Related
Here are some things that have been noticed so far with the R2 release of Xperia ROMs. Go through the list and cast your vote above.
(If you chose from the last two selections, then please post your ROM version - i.e. Swedish ROM, Vodafone UK, Generic UK, and so on... and also point out what points you disagree with)
The device now boots faster.
Faster menus - switching tabs in settings is quicker.
Programs launch quicker and file explorer is quick in loading folders.
Bluetooth Problem reported to be fixed. (I didn’t face any bluetooth problems with the old software and am not facing any now.)
Wi-Fi bug fixed.
Panel animation is a bit smoother but still laggy on switching from portrait to landscape and vice versa. Overall a faster panels experience.
Video playback has improved a lot! CP benchmark on a video resulted in 90-92% on the old ROM and is now increased to 98%.
Word prediction in most text-boxes.
Media Panel improvements including; music indexing is a lot faster, image scrolling is almost as smooth as it should be, changing tracks show information about the track at the bottom of the screen, and most importantly it now only shows pictures from the My Pictures and Camera folders on the main and internal storage – say goodbye to all those images from program files and windows showing up.
Camera improvements include faster focus lock and more stable focus. Preview is also smoother and introduces a new setting letting you define the frame rate to use for the video to shoot.
Furthermore, I think they updated the 3D drivers too. TouchFlo 3D is running way smooth - especially the Pictures and Media tabs! (flicking through pictures and music is quick and smooth) + Slide2Play is performing much better with this new updated ROM; quicker and smoother movement in landscape, switches album/song images correctly on song change, and games are also functioning way smoother than before.
Best Regards.
Salman Khalid.
I have the generic UK R2A ROM, and since flashing its definitely much better, the only points I cant be sure of are the games (dont have those extra) and the tf3d working better as I dont use that... but all the other points spot on and its humming now... fan-fricking-tastic...
I do agree with the points but still not a huge difference.
Pannel lag is the worst. This is the central point of the X1 and its crap still laggy as hell ok they boot slightly quicker but going from landscape to portraight is bad.
As for bluetooth fix so far its stayed on but im not completely satisfied until i get my tomtom back from repair and try it.
booting is about the same for me.
videos i need to test.
as for the extra games all they have doneis put the games from Java into the program menu. this is **** as the games are al trial versions and that blockbreaker is only a 90 second demo! WHY ffs dont waste your time and effort putting it on the X1 its a **** game im not going to buy it!
Also a main point is i have not soft reset my X1 yet! this is great finally can i go a day witout doing a soft reset?
Im still not entirely satisfied and even though i really like the X1 and will not give it up i still think it could be so much better. What are SE playingat
To summerise im happy with the update but still want more, more and more.
There's some issues with playback of recorded video, but other than that vid playback is better.
Overall I find the x1 much faster, especially on screen redraws and other 2D malarky, there appears to be a new DDI in this one that uses the hardware better I think.
Jasand said:
Pannel lag is the worst. This is the central point of the X1 and its crap still laggy as hell ok they boot slightly quicker but going from landscape to portraight is bad.
as for the extra games all they have doneis put the games from Java into the program menu. this is **** as the games are al trial versions and that blockbreaker is only a 90 second demo! WHY ffs dont waste your time and effort putting it on the X1 its a **** game im not going to buy it!
Also a main point is i have not soft reset my X1 yet! this is great finally can i go a day witout doing a soft reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the game point doesn't really need to exist on that list - since its not an enhancement really. FYI - added only with the Vodafone UK ROM.
As for Panels... given that they are the main thing on Xperia, there should have been more improvements with them. Maybe a panel or two!
I flashed to x1a GENERIC NORTH AMERICA R2AA008 (1.03.948.8) couple days ago. (I have x1a purchased from sonystyle.com nov 08)
Camera - still testing. no option to turn off shutter sound.
Video - has not test yet.
access sd card - seems to be faster.
Headset works now in vibrate mode.
radio rom - 1.10.25.18. Seems to switch to GPRS more often than 1.06.25.29 (Probably will test other radios)
Overall is SLOWER;
Cannot make it: DON'T capitalize first letter (no matter if checked or not, it is Capitalizing always!)
Still no zoom at 3MP (I know its only digital, but comeon!)
Picture Quality / AutoFocus worse, for sure NOT better!
Still lags sometimes, while opening programs or clicking on anything!
Cannot choose to see ALL pictures in media panel anymore!
and so on.... !
I have Generic UK R2AA008 with the customized software ID from the download here! I have before, originally a different Generic_UK Customized version and had NO such problems besides the Bluetooth sometimes(!) turning off.
IMHO both NAM R2A and UK R2A have been improved
Still not perfect, but better overall xperiance over R1A
So I leave a positive feedback: Item as described. Would buy again. A++++
newly updated Generic_UK ROM
*First thing I've notice: Message Sent notification Fixed.
*Everything seem to boost up as far as performance is concern.
Satisfied and very Impressive as of now...
michaelthemage said:
Overall is SLOWER;
Cannot make it: DON'T capitalize first letter (no matter if checked or not, it is Capitalizing always!)
Still no zoom at 3MP (I know its only digital, but comeon!)
Picture Quality / AutoFocus worse, for sure NOT better!
Still lags sometimes, while opening programs or clicking on anything!
Cannot choose to see ALL pictures in media panel anymore!
and so on.... !
I have Generic UK R2AA008 with the customized software ID from the download here! I have before, originally a different Generic_UK Customized version and had NO such problems besides the Bluetooth sometimes(!) turning off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you flashed with the correct version ?
I strongly agree with the list of improvements.
And zoom at maximal resolution (for us 3 MP) is not a bug, it's just the way Sony Ericsson wrote his software on any of their mobile phones, which is exactly the same for any Sony PowerShot camera. You cannot zoom digital at maximal resolution.
michaelthemage said:
Overall is SLOWER;
Cannot make it: DON'T capitalize first letter (no matter if checked or not, it is Capitalizing always!)
Still no zoom at 3MP (I know its only digital, but comeon!)
Picture Quality / AutoFocus worse, for sure NOT better!
Still lags sometimes, while opening programs or clicking on anything!
Cannot choose to see ALL pictures in media panel anymore!
and so on.... !
I have Generic UK R2AA008 with the customized software ID from the download here! I have before, originally a different Generic_UK Customized version and had NO such problems besides the Bluetooth sometimes(!) turning off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No capitalizing issues at my end. Check your Camera settings - quality must be low or something. Zoom is simply not an option offered in the camera firmware, really not a bug! Overall speed improvements, but will still show a little lag at times - it is windows mobile 6.5 after all! And who wants to see all pictures in media panel? Media Panel kept bringing in pictures from progam files and so on, so turning that off was good, but i agree there should be an option to toggle that option.
I've had my SEX1 for one week today, and so far no real complaint's. I noticed the last post in this thread is about a month old. Any updates, after longer usage? Do you recommend doing the update?
Thanks in advance.
If you check your rom and see you have an older R1 version then
Answer = Yes
It's greatly improved my speed on my phone, i no longer want to through it at the wall when it lags, because by and large all lagginess has been removed.
here's my upsets. I've flashed mine using generic uk rom. official SEUS since I can't use cooked rom which voids my warranty.
suck no. 1.: the damn thing always connect to 3G / Phone Data whenever it needs internet connection. Even if network is set to "My ISP". Even if nodata.cab is installed. And hell, even if the wifi is turned on and somehow your wifi connection at home becomes disconnected for whatever reasons, the 3G/Data connects. I just hate this feature. Whoever did it is a wuzzz! heheheh. Connecting to 3G automatically means adding paid data to your bill automatically. I reflashed the device twice. and I still get to connect automatically.
no 2.: This feature already sucked before but now the improvement sucks even more. Before, whenever you listen to mp3, whenever someone sends you sms, your mp3 mutes, and device plays your sms tone, making your music skip for a few seconds. This does not happen on SE phones. But of course, using UIQ.
Now, whenever you listen to your mp3 and someone sends you sms, the music keeps on playing while you sms tone plays at the same time. Real lame I should say.
no. 3.: I couldn't say camera or video recording has been improved IMHO. Because you now have the choice to record your videos in a High or Normal frame rate. Since the device can record at high frame rate, Who the hell would choose normal rate from now on? I mean would it still make sense? Then a minor thing is that the silent shutter isn't there anymore, The layout is noticeable that the 5th option wasn't there. Although I never cared.
no 4.: Random appearance of Flight mode bugs. Whenever your turn OFF your flight mode, the WIFI turns on. Even if it is off right before you turned ON the flight mode. this happens on occasions.
no. 5.: Faster boot up is noticeable. But I do not need reboot the phone, and it's not made to be noticed booting up. And again. And then again.
I have been on the fence for this ever since it has been out. I have been to bestbuy and verizon to test out the demo units multiple times and both units seem to have the same issue.
When I open some apps, say dolphin hd for example, I can see screen artifacts for a second. Like colored dashes of varying lengths, and this seems to happen often.
Second, when I am trying to pinch and zoom or scroll in Dolphin, it jerky and spastic, there was one other app that did this as well but I can remember which one. The scrolling on the stock browser seems ok but not the best.
Anyway, do any of you see this? More than likely a software fix, but hey, you never know.
And a rant, who on earth thought of that flimsy power adapter, good grief, they were both broken and the two stores when I first went to look but have since been replaced. And the power button? I have to turn it over to find it.....
Rant off and hoping to fall of the fence.....
Matt
The power button is actually placed well I think. It's not in the way and not hard to get to. I rarely have my device on a table cause of the viewing so it's not a hassle. Also I have not experienced that with dolphin HD on my device.
It's a Dolphin HD problem.
The stock browser rocks.
I haven't noticed any screen artifacts on my display whatsoever. For the most part I disregard demo displays in any store, as you have thousands of people with their hands all over it and the mentality of "Its not mine, what do I care?". God only knows what was done to the demo units.
I have not used Dolphin HD browser at all, so I can't comment on that, i'll try and download it today and give you another reply. The android browser pinch to zoom works damn near flawlessly for me.
As for the power cable, yes I was a little weary of it and the size. But since the battery lasts for quite awhile on this thing, I just plug it in on my nightstand and it lasts me through the day.
My typical uses through the day are music, browsing the internet on breaks, work e-mail, picture management, and work e-mail (exchange push). I start work at about 8 o cloak and am usually done around 6. During this time theres constant use of e-mail and music, and when the day is finished I am around 35%-50% on battery depending on how the day has gone. When I am home, its light browsing and maybe a game for awhile.
The power adapter could become an issue if you plan on having it travel with you constantly, but in a fixed location for charging and nothing disturbing it, its not so much of an issue.
Are you seeing the artifacts? It is like a blip and then the app starts.
I know what you're talking about... but it only occurs for me with Dolphin. I used to use that as my main browser and pinch/zoom when it would try to reload the text/images it would be very jittery.
Again though it's the apps issue not the tablet or honeycomb.
I just had to change the default browser to load as a desktop and not as a mobile device.
i know this probably a common excuse, but HD Dolphin isnt made for honeycomb. Dolphin is making a tablet specific browser and hopefully it'll be release soon. i have both installed just to keep my browser option open.
as for the power button, i think it's the best place. what you dont release from the demo unit is that when actually have in your hands, it's completely different. if the power button was along the side anywhere, it could be easily hit. especially laying down it on it side or even having it in a tablet stand. i even have some issues with the volume button when i place it in my tablet stand.
besides all that, i contact Quickoffice and asked about whether they're developing a Honeycomb specific Quickoffice with editing and making new documents. they said yes
I use the stock browser with no problems.I don't see why they had Dolphin browser on the Xoom anyway because its not designed for honeycomb & furthermore those demo units are no way to judge the Xoom anyway.People push everything in sight on them & mess them up anyway.
I'm surprised they don't perform a reset every once in a while to clear up the device of any hangups.
Though I guess it makes for a pretty good stress test to see if it can handle anything that is thrown at it.
Mooem7 said:
I'm surprised they don't perform a reset every once in a while to clear up the device of any hangups.
Though I guess it makes for a pretty good stress test to see if it can handle anything that is thrown at it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah I put all kind of stuff on there testing stuff I read here.
Launcherpro
dolphin
spareparts
asee ( app i use for my home dvr)
The verizon store also had an ipad right next to it, and I do have an ipad now, but love my Droidx.
the other thing I seem to notice is that the colors are a little washed out on the xoom compared to the ipad and the ipad is much brighter, but that always is best especially late at night in the bed. The ipad is to brit on tne dimmest setting.
Man i just cant decide to drop the dough....
Hi, ive decided to get the iconia over the transformer, but i would like to ask a few questions.
1. What is the max amount of points the iconia supports for multitouch, and how smooth is pinch to zoom in the browser and other apps.
2. Does the iconia have a microphone.
3. How are the viewing angles and screen clarity.
4. Does it have a gyroscope
10 all your fingers
yes ,although i doesnt find it,i can ues to record.
i dont know .it is good enough for me ,so i dont care the number .
yes ,it has.
Okay thank you the main concerns was the microphone, can it be used for video chat. Also many of the problems people say they have with the iconia is it software related?
EDIT: I read about a problem where the screen keeps coming on and off by itself, has this been fixed or is it still there and the problem with wifi disconnecting is that still happening or has that been fixed.
the mic is ok .
i use qq,a chat software which is widely used in china.
mic and camera work well.
i dont test mic with msn or skype.
in china , we dont use msn in daily.
but ,if it can be used with qq,i guess it will work with msn or other chat software.
Hi yeah i edited the post above could you answer those questions?
M..N said:
Hi, ive decided to get the iconia over the transformer, but i would like to ask a few questions.
1. What is the max amount of points the iconia supports for multitouch, and how smooth is pinch to zoom in the browser and other apps.
2. Does the iconia have a microphone.
3. How are the viewing angles and screen clarity.
4. Does it have a gyroscope
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I, too was worried about the problems people seem to be having..
I bought a 32G A500, and the GPS works perfectly.
Wifi is a little sensitive to distance from router, but that might be my router..
To answer your questions:
Dunno - it does pinch zoom and expand perfectly though.
Clear, very clear and sharp. I can read the screen at such an angle it almost horizontal.
It has hardware compass, mine seems to be pretty accurate.
Microphone - dunno where it is, but it records for voice input quite well (although you look a right tit talking to your tablet!)
I suspect maybe a bad batch got out (especially the GPS units, maybe wifi antenna is a bit loses in some). You don't know what people have done to their tab before they start to whine about problems (failed root? deleted apps?)
What I don't like about it?
Full of apps (facebook crap, twittery crap) I'll never use, yet am worried about deleting them in case an update fails and it's bricked - this should have been release with full customisation!
No file manager from start-up - I had to go find some silly ad supported thing to install my backup file manager off the mSD card.
Some apps do't work (copilot dies all the time, NDrive is TINY!!!)
Fluffbutt said:
I, too was worried about the problems people seem to be having..
I bought a 32G A500, and the GPS works perfectly.
Wifi is a little sensitive to distance from router, but that might be my router..
To answer your questions:
Dunno - it does pinch zoom and expand perfectly though.
Clear, very clear and sharp. I can read the screen at such an angle it almost horizontal.
It has hardware compass, mine seems to be pretty accurate.
Microphone - dunno where it is, but it records for voice input quite well (although you look a right tit talking to your tablet!)
I suspect maybe a bad batch got out (especially the GPS units, maybe wifi antenna is a bit loses in some). You don't know what people have done to their tab before they start to whine about problems (failed root? deleted apps?)
What I don't like about it?
Full of apps (facebook crap, twittery crap) I'll never use, yet am worried about deleting them in case an update fails and it's bricked - this should have been release with full customisation!
No file manager from start-up - I had to go find some silly ad supported thing to install my backup file manager off the mSD card.
Some apps do't work (copilot dies all the time, NDrive is TINY!!!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi thanks for the response and the problem with the screen turning on and off by itself is that fixed. Also how well do games play on it, and the camera quality when video calling how good is it?
I've not (yet) had the turning on/off thing.
Games play very well on it, smooth and crips.
EG: N64oid was almost unplayable on my previous tab, this plays it like BUTTER.
(Nenamark test of old tab was 16.7 fps, this tab is 37.7 fpds)
I don't do video calling. Rear camera is nice, good pix in low light (flash), nice pix in daylight. No tried front cam yet, not needed to.
(I have specific ideas of what I want a video app to do, and until i find one I won't use one. It basically need to do what the Logitech VID system does for PC, including allow tablet to PC video chat)
Questions and Answers A500
I've had mine for a couple of weeks and I'm really loving it...
I've done video chat with both Google Talk and Skype with many friends and many of them commented how clear my video was, sound was a tiny bit muddy to start, but with some tweaks, got it sussed out.
If you get root, get a program called Adfree which downloads a database of ad servers and keeps ads from running on your android.
On / Off issues still exists for a number of users. I've experienced it on a few occasions, mostly when I've let the unit go to sleep - not turned off. There is another thread that seems to think it's a wifi wakeup / router call issue and will probably be fully addressed when 3.1 rolls out later this month.
If you have any more questions ask away!
wifi works well ,at least on my device,build 135.
some people say wifi works better with build 141,a little update.
so i think it is fixed.
screen off/on ,it is not very often .
but ,i dont know wether it is fixed or not.
i dont notice it.
Okay I have another question how much free space for apps installation is there?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA Premium App
You can use all your memory for apps on the Iconia (27 gigabyte for me atleast).
abats said:
You can use all your memory for apps on the Iconia (27 gigabyte for me atleast).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay that's fine, just wanted to know because I guess its different to phones
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA Premium App
M..N said:
EDIT: I read about a problem where the screen keeps coming on and off by itself, has this been fixed or is it still there and the problem with wifi disconnecting is that still happening or has that been fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had mine just over a week and noticed the screen on/off thing for the first time today. The only 'new' thing I have done was connect it to my Ubuntu laptop via the micro USB. This caused USB debugging to activate which I also saw for the first time today.
A couple questions before I splurge, teh Nook's been looking really tempting at it's current price point. I'm talking about once it's rooted and presumably running something stable (CM7 most probably).
a) How's the browser? Is Flash reliable, and overall is it good enough to check some e-mails and open five or six tabs of desktop versions of sites?
b) Battery life? Any stats and comparisons?
c) How's video playback? Does RockPlayer or such work and does it play XviD/H.264 files at their own framerate? HD isn't required, but would be nice.
d) Any drawbacks I should know about?
e) Is having no soft/hard keys for Android functions a detriment to the usability?
Thanks for any help and suggestions guys. Looking to buy me one of these if feedback's good.
here are some answer:
a) browser will be the same that your nexus one. But i use Opera mobile wich is smooth, can open lot of tabs (yesterday i had 8), flash work.
b) battery life: it get better, just cut wifi when you know it will iddle (when you sleep or go to work). I don't shut if off and it stand about 3 or 4 day (using it for web, mail). Watching an 20 minutes show drop around 8-10% battery. (using mx player soft decode, hw decode don't work )
c) mx player is great (better ui than mobo, i just switch!) don't use hd file, last time i tried it doesnt work..
d) no stable honeycomb, so no app using fragment ui (gmail for honeycomb)
e) you can try tablet tweak on your cyanogen's nexus one. bottom status bar + button in status bar work like HC!
pro: i like the rugger back the nook, no shiny plastic with lot of fingerprint!
onclebob pretty much answered everything. I'm a fan of the Dolphin HD browser which also handles flash, multiple tabs, etc. There was a deep sleep issue a while back but it's been fixed. I can routinely get a week or more out of a full charge with minimal use. Of course, YMMV. With tablet tweaks, there's really not a problem with missing the dedicated hardware keys. It uses the honeycomb-style soft keys. The nook 'n' key can be used as home, etc. I honestly can't think of any unsuspected drawbacks -- performance is great (at least with overclocking which is built-in to the nightlies) -- speaking of which, if/when you get one, the CM7 nightlies are the way to go -- very stable on the NC. Bluetooth and usb host mode are available. I will say the speakers do not get very loud, so that could be a factor. The other things are "known"... ie. 7" screen (although a very good one), no 3g/4g, etc.
Plus, for what it's worth, the community here is pretty awesome, which hopefully says a lot.
D's ) The SD card is very hard to insert or eject
The whole thing creaks and pops; poorly fitting/fixed components
Blink the wrong way and the USB cable will shatter into fragments
Still awesome though
I'm selling my Nook Color if you're interested.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1240181
I received my Google Nexus 7 tablet in the mail a few days ago. While I believe it's a good step forward, I couldn't help but to be annoying by the many little problems I've had with it so far. Below is a partial list of problems I've had with it. I'd love it if someone could give an explanation why Google decided to ship the Nexus 7 with these problems and hope Google fixes them or changes their priorities to address problems like these in the future.
My unformatted list of Nexus 7 problems:
Cannot use Google Voice to make phone calls without downloading a fix from third party software makers. What’s the point of the Google Voice app if by default it doesn’t allow you to make/receive phone calls?
Cannot place custom makers such as “girlfriend’s house” or “grandma’s house” or “picnic spot” in the Navigate app. You cannot say “navigate to grandma’s house” to Google Now.
The Navigate app seems to have enough deficiencies that I question whether it is actually a working app meant to help you navigate. First, you must preload an area if you ever plan on using it to navigate. Second, you must ask to navigate before you leave home while you still have a wireless signal. Third, if while navigating you make a wrong turn the navigation stops working because it tries to recalculates the route then stops when it tries to find the new route and determines the data connection (your wireless network) is no longer available. It also seems to be missing many common navigation features like estimating your speed, miles traveled, or helping to calculate gas mileage (allowing you to input gas amount at fill ups).
When opening search results from Google Now in Chrome two tabs are always opened at the same time. Also, loading pages in Chrome after a Google Now takes too much time. While on my home broadband connection it take 8, 9, or 10 seconds to load a page. It seems like more is going on than simply loading a web page (maybe a few redirects for Google to record/register the search result you picked in order to improve Google Now?).
The main screen, your desktop, does not orient itself based on how you are holding the tablet, while apps can and do. As far as I know, you have to root the tablet and edit some files to get this behavior. This leads me to ask, why didn’t Google just include an option/setting to give the user a choice?
In Google Music the track position slider is placed too close to the next/prior/play/pause/stop buttons. Attempting to move the position regularly results in a pause/stop instead. This is a big pain for resuming audio books when the place marker gets lost if you ever switch tracks (listening to music before the 6 hour audio book is complete). The position slider is also too small (again consider seeking in a 6 hour audio book file). When in landscape mode Google Music splits the controls on one side of the screen and cover art on the other. The net effect is there is no configuration to provide a large track position slider.
Google Play does offer a way to search or browse all widgets. You can see a list of “top widgets”, but when you search it searches for everything, that is all apps and not just for widgets.
Some apps which include widgets are not showing as available for for placement on my desktop. They don’t appear in the list of available widgets. Specifically I downloaded an FTP app with a desktop widget to quickly enable/disable the FTP server. This widget is not to be found in my availble list of widgets.
The “My Library” widget is awkward and hard to use. I am not even sure if it works correctly. I have several podcasts and audio books, but when click their tiles in the “My Library” widget, nothing happens.
Options are a mess. My eyesight is really poor and getting worse. I can use options in one place to increase the fonts size, and that same option is missing or moved somewhere else in another application. Even the options buttons move around from app to app. Regarding text size, on a PC at least I can change the font size system wide by changing display properties in one place.
While the voice search in Google Now, there are certain chinks in its voice recognition which become frustrating very quickly. I tried to send my friend an email about the “olympics day one”, and it kept thinking I saying “olympics they want” even though I was speaking cleanly and clearly with a mid west american accent. Similar misunderstanding have happened occasionally, and when I try to correct them by speaking again and again, the voe recognition gets it wrong every time. Eventually I give up and manually type out my words.
Literally none of those are at fault of the N7. These are all software issues.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
OP here.
Yes, I am not specifically having problems the hardware. I am finding annoyances with how the software works on the hardware. When I say Google Voice doesn't allow allow phone calls, yes that's a software problem.
It's a quad core 7 inch tablet for $199...stop nitpicking!!!
Seriously? Do you use tablets on a regular basis? Do you use android extensively? Because anyone who does, realizes that, in comparison, Jellybean on nexus 7 is pretty damn decent for a first release. So giving feedback on issues is great and will help Google improve-but saying you are annoyed that a tablet(any kind) has issues a couple of weeks after being on the market with brand new software...clearly shows how unrealistic your expectations actually are. Furthermore, to address some of your comments more specifically: (1)This tablet is wifi only-mainly to save on cost. That means you cannot really use GPS in the same way as a 3G enabled device. (2) Voice recognition is rarely precise and Siri has a ton of issues(I Have the new iphone and ipad) (3) Please do not compare font rendering to a PC-this is a 7 inch tablet-not something10 times bgger (4) Finally...what on earth are you doing with a 7 inch tablet if your eyesight is failing so much?
sysrpl said:
I received my Google Nexus 7 tablet in the mail a few days ago. While I believe it's a good step forward, I couldn't help but to be annoying by the many little problems I've had with it so far. Below is a partial list of problems I've had with it. I'd love it if someone could give an explanation why Google decided to ship the Nexus 7 with these problems and hope Google fixes them or changes their priorities to address problems like these in the future.
My unformatted list of Nexus 7 problems:
Cannot use Google Voice to make phone calls without downloading a fix from third party software makers. What’s the point of the Google Voice app if by default it doesn’t allow you to make/receive phone calls?
Cannot place custom makers such as “girlfriend’s house” or “grandma’s house” or “picnic spot” in the Navigate app. You cannot say “navigate to grandma’s house” to Google Now.
The Navigate app seems to have enough deficiencies that I question whether it is actually a working app meant to help you navigate. First, you must preload an area if you ever plan on using it to navigate. Second, you must ask to navigate before you leave home while you still have a wireless signal. Third, if while navigating you make a wrong turn the navigation stops working because it tries to recalculates the route then stops when it tries to find the new route and determines the data connection (your wireless network) is no longer available. It also seems to be missing many common navigation features like estimating your speed, miles traveled, or helping to calculate gas mileage (allowing you to input gas amount at fill ups).
When opening search results from Google Now in Chrome two tabs are always opened at the same time. Also, loading pages in Chrome after a Google Now takes too much time. While on my home broadband connection it take 8, 9, or 10 seconds to load a page. It seems like more is going on than simply loading a web page (maybe a few redirects for Google to record/register the search result you picked in order to improve Google Now?).
The main screen, your desktop, does not orient itself based on how you are holding the tablet, while apps can and do. As far as I know, you have to root the tablet and edit some files to get this behavior. This leads me to ask, why didn’t Google just include an option/setting to give the user a choice?
In Google Music the track position slider is placed too close to the next/prior/play/pause/stop buttons. Attempting to move the position regularly results in a pause/stop instead. This is a big pain for resuming audio books when the place marker gets lost if you ever switch tracks (listening to music before the 6 hour audio book is complete). The position slider is also too small (again consider seeking in a 6 hour audio book file). When in landscape mode Google Music splits the controls on one side of the screen and cover art on the other. The net effect is there is no configuration to provide a large track position slider.
Google Play does offer a way to search or browse all widgets. You can see a list of “top widgets”, but when you search it searches for everything, that is all apps and not just for widgets.
Some apps which include widgets are not showing as available for for placement on my desktop. They don’t appear in the list of available widgets. Specifically I downloaded an FTP app with a desktop widget to quickly enable/disable the FTP server. This widget is not to be found in my availble list of widgets.
The “My Library” widget is awkward and hard to use. I am not even sure if it works correctly. I have several podcasts and audio books, but when click their tiles in the “My Library” widget, nothing happens.
Options are a mess. My eyesight is really poor and getting worse. I can use options in one place to increase the fonts size, and that same option is missing or moved somewhere else in another application. Even the options buttons move around from app to app. Regarding text size, on a PC at least I can change the font size system wide by changing display properties in one place.
While the voice search in Google Now, there are certain chinks in its voice recognition which become frustrating very quickly. I tried to send my friend an email about the “olympics day one”, and it kept thinking I saying “olympics they want” even though I was speaking cleanly and clearly with a mid west american accent. Similar misunderstanding have happened occasionally, and when I try to correct them by speaking again and again, the voe recognition gets it wrong every time. Eventually I give up and manually type out my words.
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While the Nexus 7 has alot going for it, I still agree with the OP. There are still some basic hardware (unchangable) shortcomings that should have been addressed in this product. I am not a tablet expert and the Nexus 7 is my first android device. Don't hold this against me. As someone who shouldn't yet have the skills to push the boundaries of the device here is my list of deficiencies:
-Back-side hi-res camera. Yes, you look odd taking pictures with a tablet but you look weirder taking pictures over your head facing the wrong way. Tablet cams have their place and are useful for a number of things. They are especially handy in the smaller format 7" tablets.
-4 conductor headphone/microphone jack instead of the 3 conductor headphone jack. The Nexus 7 tablet has poor accoustic performance for making VoIP calls with the builtin speaker and mic. By including this style of jack they would have overcome this issue. One of the main reasons for travelling with a laptop or tablet is to use Wifi hotspts to make free VoIP calls home. With the poor acoustics of the Nexus 7 and no way around them, this tablet is a poor solution for the traveller and I would recommend something else.
-ability to connect with the mic of a bluetooth headset. While the Nexus 7 has Bluetooth, it will not connect to a Bluetooth headset and allow the mic to work. The mic of a bluetooth headset could offer another way around the lousy acoustical design. This would not mean that the 4 conductor jack should be excluded as when you are travelling it is nice to not have another device to power.
- micro SD slot. This one is big. The absence of this slot is the one thing that really made me think twice about buying the product. With no way to add memory, I'm boxed in and I don't have the easy trasfer or files that the SD card brings. While 16 G seems enough now, add some movies, music and offline maps and quickly the memory is full. This is 2012. Memory is cheap and will become cheaper. So why pin me down?
Some might wish for the HDMI port but this is not too important for me.
LttrX said:
-Back-side hi-res camera. Yes, you look odd taking pictures with a tablet but you look weirder taking pictures over your head facing the wrong way. Tablet cams have their place and are useful for a number of things. They are especially handy in the smaller format 7" tablets.
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Seriously, your Nexus 7 can be configured to have the best camera experience BAR NONE, even the latest Apple iPhone 5 will be totally lame in comparison (disclaimer, it's more expensive, but what the heck, it's really darn cool!!!)
Nexus 7 used as HD monitor and controller with ultra-high-resolution DSLR camera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4X6olWN3-g
Of course this is tongue in cheek, I'd also really like a single device to carry that does a much better job of taking pictures. However, for a little more I could have gotten a tab that had the camera, but half the processor/graphics performance. I purchased it knowing it didn't have the back-side camera.
LttrX said:
-4 conductor headphone/microphone jack instead of the 3 conductor headphone jack. The Nexus 7 tablet has poor acoustic performance for making VoIP calls with the builtin speaker and mic. By including this style of jack they would have overcome this issue. One of the main reasons for travelling with a laptop or tablet is to use Wifi hotspts to make free VoIP calls home. With the poor acoustics of the Nexus 7 and no way around them, this tablet is a poor solution for the traveller and I would recommend something else.
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Is this just a three conductor jack? Or is it possible that it is a 4 conductor and the software support is just absent? The tear downs don't show the solder pads, so it's difficult to tell. But the traces indicate more conductors than a 3 conductor jack would require.
LttrX said:
-ability to connect with the mic of a bluetooth headset. While the Nexus 7 has Bluetooth, it will not connect to a Bluetooth headset and allow the mic to work. The mic of a bluetooth headset could offer another way around the lousy acoustical design. This would not mean that the 4 conductor jack should be excluded as when you are travelling it is nice to not have another device to power.
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Confirmed this with my Plantronics BackBeat 903 Stereo bluetooth headset. I suspect that this is a software issue, as that is simply more content to stream via bluetooth. Perhaps this will be in 4.1.2? Let's add this to the Google requests... http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/request.py?contact_type=contact_policy
LttrX said:
- micro SD slot. This one is big. The absence of this slot is the one thing that really made me think twice about buying the product. With no way to add memory, I'm boxed in and I don't have the easy trasfer or files that the SD card brings. While 16 G seems enough now, add some movies, music and offline maps and quickly the memory is full. This is 2012. Memory is cheap and will become cheaper. So why pin me down?
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Not a perfect solution and no where the same in functionality, but I use a MicroSD to MicroUSB adapter. Using an app allows me to access content from the SD, but not to install apps there. Google could write code to allow native mounting from the USB port, but will they?
I'm not sure they left this out due to cost, as the parts are supper cheap. I'm more inclined to think it's a way to enforce us to embrace their Cloud architecture vis-a-vie Google Play and streamed movies/music. But Wi-Fi isn't ubiquitous enough to really pull that off yet. Strongly wish a MicroSD was present, but I purchased knowing this was the case.
LttrX said:
Some might wish for the HDMI port but this is not too important for me.
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Perhaps we'll see Miracast? HD via Wireless. Apparently the Tegra3 SOC used supports it, so it may be a matter for Google to code for it.
Wow, I've had my N7 since July 21st and never realized how crappy it is!!!!!!
Holly crow!!! "Nexus 7 used as HD monitor and controller with ultra-high-resolution DSLR camera" :cyclops:
That was gay. err Funny and weird. err puzzling and stupid. emm okay just really gay. (no offence intended)