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So I'm coming off contract on my current phone soon so I've naturally been checking out the market for a new phone. When the Xperia Play launched earlier in the year, to be honest I wasn't that impressed with it, but I've been hearing good things about it lately. Specifically how SE have continued to support it and fix the little bugs and glitches, as well as providing more functionality in the future and OS updates (crossing my fingers for the 4.0 update). However I am a bit cautious because I am totally new to Sony Ericsson phones, and this will also be my first Android phone. I currently own a Samsung Omnia 2 (i8000).
I realise a lot of things could be gleened from reviews, but the problem is all reviews for this phone were written months ago when it was first launched, so seem hardly relevant now after the recent updates SE have been making. What I want to know is, have these updates improved the phone significantly? Is the phone worth it now?
I am a keen gamer, so the physical controls definitely interest me, but I am also after good functionality in the phone too...making calls, how easy the keyboard is to use, music and video playback, how well the GPS works, how good the web browsing experience is, how customisable it is, how good the camera is etc etc - does the phone perform these functions well?
Also of importance is how is stacks up in performance against other high end Android devices (currently the Galaxy S II is the only dual core device on the Australian market) - how many Android apps and games are actually written to support dual core CPU's? How well does it perform in everyday phone operations compare to say the Galaxy S II?
One feature I'm particularly bummed about is the lack of FM Radio...I use the FM Radio in my current Omnia 2 more often than I expected, so I'll definitely miss that if I decide to go for the Play - has anyone written an app that's able to utilise the radio in the Play's snapdragon CPU? It still baffles me that SE elected not to enable the radio especially when touting the thing as a multimedia device, given the hardware is there already. Course I could stream it but that's a waste of data (and battery, compared to using the radio).
Another feature is the lack of internal storage...for a device that's supposed to be about gaming it seems odd that there is basically no internal storage in it, forcing you to use a microSD card. If anyone in Australia has picked up this phone through Telstra, what size (and class) microSD card do they package with the phone? Need to know if I'll be shelling out more money for a nice 32 GB card or something. Is it relatvely easy (without rooting the phone) to move stuff to the SD card or force it to install to the SD card by default?
Lastly, how comfortable is the phone to hold when gaming? I've noticed the PSP go, which has a very similar basic design, can become uncomfortable after a while as the edges of the device kinda dig into your palms, has anyone found this to be a problem with the Play? I couldn't really tell this from the couple of minutes I spent with one in store while it was covered in security tags and attached to a desk with cables.
Thanks for your time...it's a bit of a wall of text so I apologise in advance for that.
my 0.02$
pros: the tons of emulator support and mind you its improving
the fact that we can convert our own psx titles thanks to psxperia
of course the controls tho the joysticks due need a bit of getting used to
honestly think if SE wouldve designed the joysticks like the psp go it wouldve been alot better
the phone overall feels solid not cheap the controls is like a good lapdance on your bday lol
keep in mind it was marketed as a gaming device not a multimedia etc
the camera is great also the front camera is a bit so so
cons:
basically the storage and no hdmi out which wouldve been the icing on the cake
and like really we all know emulators psx games and all the crap we can run is gonna eat up alot of memory mine came with a pre installed 8 gb which is okay but after all the shi you can do with it it does feel small a nice 32 gb pre installed wouldve been nice
also the battery life is horrible due to all the bloatware installed nothing a little rooting magic wont solve
i used to get about a day out of it but now after rooting and removing all the junk
i get about 2 days of heavy usage and gaming before i gotta recharge
yeah the missing radio is a con to some but others are just like ill just get on youtube
"jerrys final thought" lol
the hardware is decent i mean were not gonna run call of duty on it
the overall functionality as a phone is great
but this thing is honestly lacking SOFTWARE "anyone got geohots number"
Anyone else want to give their opinions? I'm trying to get as much information as I can about this phone before I take the plunge.
I was t very pleased with the keyboard, but I installed go launcher ex and all the extras that come with it, and not only does it give some extra look, but it adds some really good features. I noticed that it gets very low on memory, but that may be because I've got 15 startup apparently or so. Haptic feedback could be a bit better, but other than that I don't have many negative views on it. The hardware gaming pad is very nice, but I wasn't ecstatic about the sensor pads. They are a bit irritating and take a while to get used to. The physical buttons are very very nice. I also like the bottom row of buttons (back, home, menu, and search) are also pleasing. Touch screen is very responsive. Also, it comes with like $25 worth of games pre loaded on it XD but I uninstall most of them, because they were unnecessary. If you like monetary at all, you'll have to buy this phone. If I think of anything else, I'll post again.
Sent from my R800x using XDA App
Thanks for the reponses so far.
I'd still like some more though - please post your experiences with the Play both good and bad...ANY information you think might be useful to know.
As said in other threads like this, it all really comes down to how much you play games that needs a dedicated gamepad to be really enjoyable and even playable in some cases.
The phone is pretty much as other Android phones on the market and it's doing the job as a phone pretty good. There's some bugs here and there, but not anything serious. There's a battery drain bug that can be fixed by manual selecting your network instead of auto selecting (only on the newest FW). The UI is fluent and smooth, the hardware build is ok, could be more robust, snappy response, nice screen, good dev going on etc.
It's not that elegant even though they curved it on the back it' still a bit bulky and if you don't play that much it will be a bad plunge to go for the play. It will be a slightly big lump in your pant's for 'just' a phone. It's not a brick like the Nokia N900 but you can feel it and see it in your pocket.
I think i have average sized hands so for me it's comfy to hold the xperia play while playing and do sometimes play games 3 hours strait without any discomfort.
I don't miss the FMradio even though it's been on all my phones since... Well the last, say 8-9 years.
Haven't really encountered any problems with the low internal storage. You can move apps to the sdcard and the dalvik cache aswell to gain more that way.
Bottom line it's a phone to play games on wich is does with bravour and i'm really glad i got it and i'm not missing anything on the phone side nor the whole experience as an android phone.
Just get it mate and start the gaming
Regards Dousan...
In my opinion we should not be so harsh to SE, they made a rather experimental device. Of course they can do better, but not without your money. Also I think sony is holding this thing back because of the ps vita.
Its rather unique that you can never be truly bored when you are carrying this phone. (I think touch screen controlls are 100% crap)
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
I have some input I can share after my 1 week with my 800x(VZW)... I had an EVO for a year and have a Nexus S as well. When I was looking for a new phone I really wanted a keyboard... but after some play time on an Epic and my gf's EVO Shift, I noticed I'm totally over my soft keyboard hatred and didn't need a physical one.. except it helps for gaming. The XP was the most logical choice for me.
I LOVE having solid control over orientation. The d-pad is perfect for fine cursor control without dragging a handle around. The GPU helps it perform as well or better than my EVO/NexusS. I heard complaints that the screen is terrible in the sun, it looks almost exactly as my EVO does, I'd say slightly better due to the factory screen protector. With the latest OTA the auto brightness problem is gone, thankfully! Battery life is similar to underclocked/volted EVO. I love how the Home key is a secondary power button.
Now for the bad stuff! The front cam is grayed out and underwhelming, but it works well enough. Locked bootloader is a burn for me, but honestly I'm having a much better time dealing with it than I thought. Vanilla Android helps a lot, but the bloatware makes managing apps difficult. I've had to let some phone-only apps go, but thems the breaks sometimes!
Overall, I'm very happy with the XP so far, I think you should give it a week or so trial and see how you like it!
---
Edit with some more stuff! GPS has been tight, locks in seconds, and only problem I've had with the controls is that I'm having a tough time with SF Alpha 3, F-D-DF (dragon punch) motion is difficult for me right now. Otherwise it's been butter! I didn't care for the touch pad thingies on Crash Bandicoot, but I prefer d-pad gaming anyway.
Sent from my R800x using XDA App
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks. I sold my IPAD 2 to purchase as I have always been a fan of android phones. So far, I find the galaxy to be very unpolished. For example, the screens lag when navigating and apps force close to much. When I scroll up and down on the UI, its not smooth as butter like the IPAD. When I change the screen orientation, its very choppy. The IPAD runs circles around this device. I wish it wasnt the case as I wanted to like it. Even the on screen keyboard is hard to type on. Try copying and pasting a sentence. The arrows you use to drag across the words never line up with what is being clicked. I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience unless you are in denial and I am not talking about the river. Maybe Ice Cream will fix some of the issues. For now, the tablet serves as a perfect example of what happens when technology is rushed to the market without consideration of quality.
I feel better now.
Lance
Take the time to tweak your device with everything available on these forums, it becomes an entirely different device.
Sent from my Samsung Fascinate
lancer123 said:
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks. I sold my IPAD 2 to purchase as I have always been a fan of android phones. So far, I find the galaxy to be very unpolished. For example, the screens lag when navigating and apps force close to much. When I scroll up and down on the UI, its not smooth as butter like the IPAD. When I change the screen orientation, its very choppy. The IPAD runs circles around this device. I wish it wasnt the case as I wanted to like it. Even the on screen keyboard is hard to type on. Try copying and pasting a sentence. The arrows you use to drag across the words never line up with what is being clicked. I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience unless you are in denial and I am not talking about the river. Maybe Ice Cream will fix some of the issues. For now, the tablet serves as a perfect example of what happens when technology is rushed to the market without consideration of quality.
I feel better now.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if you are trolling here, but eh, I'm bored so I'll bite.
Those of us who find the Tab to be a pleasant experience must be in denial huh? Don't you think that's a pretty presumptuous and arrogant statement? How do you know what my experience with it has been? Or anyone else's for that matter?
I would usually sit here and try to help you solve your lagginess issue, maybe seeing if you have some sort of rouge process going on or if you are even on the latest firmware. Maybe point you to some of the great custom ROMs the developers here have given us. But, nope. You speak for everyone and everyone must be having the same ****ty experience as you, and if we say we don't we must be lying.
I will tell you though that my experience has been fantastic. The only time I get lag on the homescreen is when I have a live wallpaper up. I've never had any browser lag or lag anywhere else. I have a ton of widgets on my screens too. No lag. Of course though I'm totally lying, but you knew that already right?
I'm finished being sarcastic. Honestly if you aren't happy with the device, go sell it and get an Ipad again. Nobody is stopping you. The Tab is a fantastic product and I would go so far as to say it is the best tablet on the market as of this very moment. But it is not for everybody, especially for people who have no idea what they are doing.
Posting threads like this serves no purpose other than being a troll and drawing the ire of members like myself.
lancer123 said:
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks. I sold my IPAD 2 to purchase as I have always been a fan of android phones. So far, I find the galaxy to be very unpolished. For example, the screens lag when navigating and apps force close to much. When I scroll up and down on the UI, its not smooth as butter like the IPAD. When I change the screen orientation, its very choppy. The IPAD runs circles around this device. I wish it wasnt the case as I wanted to like it. Even the on screen keyboard is hard to type on. Try copying and pasting a sentence. The arrows you use to drag across the words never line up with what is being clicked. I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience unless you are in denial and I am not talking about the river. Maybe Ice Cream will fix some of the issues. For now, the tablet serves as a perfect example of what happens when technology is rushed to the market without consideration of quality.
I feel better now.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine a couple weeks back too, and my experiences are similar to yours. I still can't understand how a dual core device can be this laggy! I'm hoping its all due to the Samsung bloatware, so I'm going to load up a custom ROM over the weekend and see how that goes... you should try it too
I really like the additional screen space coming from a 4.2" Xperia Arc, and Honeycomb is a lot zippier now than it was back in April when I had the Xoom for a couple of weeks. I still believe its a better tablet than the iPad2 though. That thing seems so zippy because all it is is a magnified iPhone. There's almost nothing running in the background which gives it the appearance of being a lot quicker and better battery life. Load it up with widgets and lets compare them then.
My biggest problem though, is the lack of a good pdf app. I've tried tons of them and they are all really slow to load, very jerky pinch to zoom, and slow scrolling. Hope this improves with ICS
And to the poster above this, I don't get why you even bothered posting if you're going to be so incredibly unhelpful
lancer123 said:
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks... I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience...
I feel better now.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lance,
I have watched my brother in law's ipad closely, and you are right. It is faster and more responsive (once tweaked) than my SGT was out of the box. However, the others are right too.
I have rooted and tweaked my SGT and it now makes my ios friends raise their eyebrows. You happily partied all over your ipad, making many changes suggested on user sites like this one. Now you need to do the same with your SGT. If you are unable or unwilling to do that, you are not an idiot or a molester of small animals, you are just one of those people that the ipad was designed for. So get another one, and enjoy it.
I prefer my Android gadgets, because they are more flexible. I am not locked into iTunes, and I have access to my 650GB music library that is not as compressed as AAC. I have a FREE SDK that works rather well, when i want to write my own apps. There are a few paid apps that I depend upon for day to day stuff, just like I would for iOs devices. For me, and many of the others in this form, that is what they want.
Sent from a distant planet with the aid of my towel.
lancer123 said:
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks. I sold my IPAD 2 to purchase as I have always been a fan of android phones. So far, I find the galaxy to be very unpolished. For example, the screens lag when navigating and apps force close to much. When I scroll up and down on the UI, its not smooth as butter like the IPAD. When I change the screen orientation, its very choppy. The IPAD runs circles around this device. I wish it wasnt the case as I wanted to like it. Even the on screen keyboard is hard to type on. Try copying and pasting a sentence. The arrows you use to drag across the words never line up with what is being clicked. I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience unless you are in denial and I am not talking about the river. Maybe Ice Cream will fix some of the issues. For now, the tablet serves as a perfect example of what happens when technology is rushed to the market without consideration of quality.
I feel better now.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand how you feel, and I felt the same way when I first handled the SGT 8.9 the UI lag was horrendous .. I felt the product manager of the device should be sacked (or worse done to him) for ever allowing such a device out the door in such state. To make matters worse for me, there was an ipad close by and the UI flow was like watching man utd beat arsenal 8-2 .. I promptly returned the device.
However my opinion has since change since coming here lots of people have filled me in with some tweaks and work around which resolves most of the laggy issue. (You can check out the SGT 8.9 Q & A section its a sticky under this section for people experience with the device)
First of if you can't be bothered to root your device, try the ADW launcher ex, everyone who tried that said its greatly improves the performance and eliminates the lag issue.
You can also if you are feeling adventurous root the device. And install some of the numerous roms around.
just try and take advantage of the open nature and make it yours. Soon ipad owners would be looking at your tab and feeling the envy.
Just my 2 cents
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Please go get your ipad back dude. I have none of the issues you speak of. This thread is a total waste. I don't even believe you own a tab.
By saying "you like Android phones" I'm assuming you mean in comparison to the iPhone. Most of the same issues you’re experiencing in an Android vs. iPad tablet comparison apply to a phone comparison also so your statement's kind of confusing.
iOS is so "buttery smooth" because it's locked down like a prison with Apple exerting Orwellian control over the entire eco-system. I bought my G-Tab and paid more than an equivalent iPad because, for what I do, the collection of individual apps works better than the homogenous equivalents on the iPad. And I did that knowing the iPad had a better display and that the UI and navigation were smoother and more mature.
This forum is fascinating because of the disparity in experiences everyone has. I've had two G-Tab's (Wi-Fi and 3G) and never had a force close on either and I have over 50 apps installed. There's occasional stutter and lagginess but I'd say it appears (for me) less than 5% of the time. One huge difference between iOS and Android is that Android, with its limitless ability to be tweaked, can get hosed by people using badly written apps and the use of memory managers, task killers, battery monitors and the like. Every XDA forum I participate in has people *****ing about some function being hosed and then go on to elaborate about all the crap they've done to their device and ****ty low-rent apps they're using. And they don’t understand why their phone’s getting crappy battery life and has tons of issues no one else seems to be experiencing. I guess freedom comes at a price and it can be abused.
I've had a G-Tab in one form or another since August and have been really satisfied with it. I took my new 3G version on a trip over the weekend and it performed flawlessly and got fantastic battery life with 3G active continuously and download speeds of 8MB in TX (vs. less than 1MB for an iPad). I sat across from someone using an iPad on the flight home last night. The local video he was playing was gorgeous. Compared to mine, his WSJ app looked like crap as did Solitaire and a bunch of other stuff I saw him use. Meanwhile, I was streaming Hulu, HBOGO, and TV shows from my home server using the planes Wi-Fi. I can also play music I have stored on my home server, the Amazon cloud, or from the 2K songs I store locally using my $9.99 Rhapsody monthly subscription. All while reading magazines and newspapers using Next Issue and Press Reader. I’d gladly trade options and versatility for “buttery smooth” any day. iOS is great for a subset of device owners because of its constraints and consistency. But those restrictions are why I chose Android. Android can become smoother through s/w and h/w evolution but iOS will never become more open. Hopefully OP bought his G-Tab somewhere with a liberal return policy so he can return it.
BarryH_GEG said:
By saying "you like Android phones" I'm assuming you mean in comparison to the iPhone. Most of the same issues you’re experiencing in an Android vs. iPad tablet comparison apply to a phone comparison also so your statement's kind of confusing.
iOS is so "buttery smooth" because it's locked down like a prison with Apple exerting Orwellian control over the entire eco-system. I bought my G-Tab and paid more than an equivalent iPad because, for what I do, the collection of individual apps works better than the homogenous equivalents on the iPad. And I did that knowing the iPad had a better display and that the UI and navigation were smoother and more mature.
This forum is fascinating because of the disparity in experiences everyone has. I've had two G-Tab's (Wi-Fi and 3G) and never had a force close on either and I have over 50 apps installed. There's occasional stutter and lagginess but I'd say it appears (for me) less than 5% of the time. One huge difference between iOS and Android is that Android, with its limitless ability to be tweaked, can get hosed by people using badly written apps and the use of memory managers, task killers, battery monitors and the like. Every XDA forum I participate in has people *****ing about some function being hosed and then go on to elaborate about all the crap they've done to their device and ****ty low-rent apps they're using. And they don’t understand why their phone’s getting crappy battery life and has tons of issues no one else seems to be experiencing. I guess freedom comes at a price and it can be abused.
I've had a G-Tab in one form or another since August and have been really satisfied with it. I took my new 3G version on a trip over the weekend and it performed flawlessly and got fantastic battery life with 3G active continuously and download speeds of 8MB in TX (vs. less than 1MB for an iPad). I sat across from someone using an iPad on the flight home last night. The local video he was playing was gorgeous. Compared to mine, his WSJ app looked like crap as did Solitaire and a bunch of other stuff I saw him use. Meanwhile, I was streaming Hulu, HBOGO, and TV shows from my home server using the planes Wi-Fi. I can also play music I have stored on my home server, the Amazon cloud, or from the 2K songs I store locally using my $9.99 Rhapsody monthly subscription. All while reading magazines and newspapers using Next Issue and Press Reader. I’d gladly trade options and versatility for “buttery smooth” any day. iOS is great for a subset of device owners because of its constraints and consistency. But those restrictions are why I chose Android. Android can become smoother through s/w and h/w evolution but iOS will never become more open. Hopefully OP bought his G-Tab somewhere with a liberal return policy so he can return it.
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Click to collapse
The stuff you speak of is why I have ran Linux exclusively on my PC for close to 5 years now. Yet I think the OP has a point and was just letting out steam. I too was extremely disappointed when I handled the galaxy tab (in my case it was the 8.9) right from boot the experience was horrendous and the UI lagged SOO much it was embarrassing. This first impression was a real turn off for me and I can understand the feeling of someone who gets a device with such awesome hardware only be bugged down with software. Sure you can always improve with tweaks and mods but if android is ever gonna replicate its success on mobile on tablets. Then the out of the box experience most be killer. Having and awesome out of the box experience and ability to further tweak should not be mutually exclusive. The experience I got on my galaxy s2 even with default rom was exquisite. Just breath taking. Even without Modding or installing a custom rom. That's what I expected from honeycomb. Hopefully most of this out of the box issues would be fixed with honeycomb 3.2 and ICS.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
I must agree with OP. Its a f****g ambaresment how a product can be released in the state it was when it was in the box. Now after tweaking and rooting and flashing and using it for a couple of months its useable. But it still lags, not all the time , but try installing something form market and then go to homescreen, right then its laggy as hell.
But we all know this by now, so i agree with the rest of you that we have no need for this thread. And if OP just read a little before buying he would have found this info about the tab. Anyways welcome hope you get your tab sorted.
nickwarn said:
I must agree with OP. Its a f****g ambaresment how a product can be released in the state it was when it was in the box. Now after tweaking and rooting and flashing and using it for a couple of months its useable. But it still lags, not all the time , but try installing something form market and then go to homescreen, right then its laggy as hell.
But we all know this by now, so i agree with the rest of you that we have no need for this thread. And if OP just read a little before buying he would have found this info about the tab. Anyways welcome hope you get your tab sorted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same experience here.... I've even rooted my tab and it did improve but not as much as I would of liked, this was a month ago though, so i don't know if anything better has comed out. I've thought about getting an iPad but..... I just can't if it can't play flash.... How the hell could you own a tablet and not watch a simple flash video. So if anyone can give me advice on how to make my 10.1 as smooth as some of you have said, then please do tell me how. I love my Gtab but the lag does really bother me enough to have had to remove all my widgets....
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
shoo troll.
Klk450 said:
Same experience here.... I've even rooted my tab and it did improve but not as much as I would of liked, this was a month ago though, so i don't know if anything better has comed out. I've thought about getting an iPad but..... I just can't if it can't play flash.... How the hell could you own a tablet and not watch a simple flash video. So if anyone can give me advice on how to make my 10.1 as smooth as some of you have said, then please do tell me how. I love my Gtab but the lag does really bother me enough to have had to remove all my widgets....
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root your tab is only the first step. You need to flash custom rom after you root your tab, then only you can feel the difference.
I just got my tab last week, wifi only version. I can say I'm really satisfied with the performance and I love my tab. The basic steps are:
1. root your tab
2. flash custom rom
That's all you need to do to feel the difference. You can ignore some of the gimmicks, for instance supercharger, overclock kernel and etc that have been mentioned if you have no freaking idea what they are about at the moment. You will pick them up along the way just like I did.
The one tip that everyone here would tell you - READ THE FORUM!
For instance, the first sticky post in the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android Development is a good read and good resource to get you started. Here's the link if you have no idea where it is (Seriously?): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1171089
lancer123 said:
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks. I sold my IPAD 2 to purchase as I have always been a fan of android phones. So far, I find the galaxy to be very unpolished. For example, the screens lag when navigating and apps force close to much. When I scroll up and down on the UI, its not smooth as butter like the IPAD. When I change the screen orientation, its very choppy. The IPAD runs circles around this device. I wish it wasnt the case as I wanted to like it. Even the on screen keyboard is hard to type on. Try copying and pasting a sentence. The arrows you use to drag across the words never line up with what is being clicked. I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience unless you are in denial and I am not talking about the river. Maybe Ice Cream will fix some of the issues. For now, the tablet serves as a perfect example of what happens when technology is rushed to the market without consideration of quality.
I feel better now.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you on most counts, except that I don't have any issues with the onscreen keyboard and don't get force closes. There are some things you can do to improve the user experience (alternate launchers, overclocking etc), however it still won't feel like the iPad.
That being said, there are things you can do with the tablet out of the box which you can't do with an iPad:
- Adobe Flash support
- Emulation apps availability (SNES, DOS, Scumm)
- File / Directory browsing
- UI customization
- Non-market / store applications installation
While I would love the overall UI performance to be on par with the iPad, given a choice between the two I would rather have the above functionality instead. There is also the possibility of Android's UI performance improving in the future with all this functionality retained. In case of Apple, apart from limited UI customization perhaps, the other stuff is just not going to be available ever.
PS: And all that's just out of the box, if you root your device there's some far more interesting stuff you can do with the tablet!
---------- Post added at 01:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:57 PM ----------
pngface said:
My biggest problem though, is the lack of a good pdf app. I've tried tons of them and they are all really slow to load, very jerky pinch to zoom, and slow scrolling. Hope this improves with ICS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have probably tried it already, but EZ PDF is pretty good. I am comparing it to GoodReader on the iPad and I don't have any issues with loading / scrolling / flipping / resizing.
Of course, this maybe dependent on the size and content of the PDFs you are using, so YMMV -- I mostly read book-sized documents, mostly text, and it works fine for me.
I recently bought a GalaxyTab and I have to confirm, it is quite laggy - In comparison to an iPad.
There are several things which can drastically improve the situation:
Use ADW Launcher EX
Custom ROM, Like Task650/Phantom Extreme Stock
Overclock (although, this didn't change a lot)
I found that the first two points are the most important. ADW Launcher makes the whole Homescreen and Applauncher absolutely smooth, just like on an iPad. And no, the stock launcher isn't.
It's great how many possibilites we have with Android, but be honest - I'd rather have ICS without any new features, but just great performance increases. Thats why I switched to Windows Phone in the first place - I don't want apple, but I want smooth scrolling, smooth transitions. And now, just because Android has much more possibilites doesn't mean it has the right to be slow and choppy. Take a look at the Windows 8 Developer Preview. My god, this isn't even an ALPHA and boy it's SO SMOOTH, I cried almost when I saw that.
The only reason I bought my Galaxy Tab is, that Microsoft still needs about a year until their first tablets are out - And I hate waiting
So please Google, get your Team together and tell them to START OPTIMIZING.
PS:
ezPDF is quite good - But the UI is horrible, and I miss the feature to insert Pages into a PDF. Mandano seems a lot more polished and faster, but misses a lot of annotation features.
I agree with the original poster. My tab is rooted, custom rom, adw, etc. My wife's ipad is a far smoother experience than this tablet. Would I switch back to the ipad prison? Not in a million years. My tablet does so much more than the ipad. If an example is needed, how about my choice of swype or thumb keyboard.
root your tab and wait for an ICS port... ICS is said to have hardware acceleration. That is the only thing Honeycomb lacks and that is why its not as smooth as the iPad...
OR
Flash a custom ROM such as Overcome 1.2.1 (didnt like 1.2.2 or 1.2.3) or w/e other one suits you and then come back edit the OP with the overall news... don't judge this book by its cover and remember its NOT iOS
A newbie when rooting is involved but i was wondering if you could give me an idea of what tweaks you have made? i'm considering rooting my device but unsure of what i could do to make it better.
Cpt Streamline said:
A newbie when rooting is involved but i was wondering if you could give me an idea of what tweaks you have made? i'm considering rooting my device but unsure of what i could do to make it better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing a custom ROM is the big one, will make a huge difference. I am using Task650 & Phantom's "In Paris V4". I also installed pershoot's kernel and overclocked.
The experience
I love my Galaxy Tab in comparison to my previously owned iPad but the reason is simply because I like playing with roms and hacking to get the most of my device. On my iPad, I felt too restricted and forced to use software I didn't like. Yes, some of the apps are better on the iPad and yes, the interface is a bit smoother but it's nowhere near as attractive and it's far too limiting.
A friend of mine equated the iPad experience with being put in a padded room where he can't hurt himself and everything if fluffy and safe feeling. It made me laugh but somewhat sums up the experience. Personally, I'd rather not be spoon fed the experience but would rather create my own and make it about me.
My hope is that ICS will be a significant jump. realistically, Android tablet manufacturers should be trolling these forums for employees who can tweak up their software.. Why they don't do this, one will never know.
Either way, I don't think attacks on the Op are warranted. These forums are here for people to both vent and discuss like the adults we are.
Trying to simply select a show in the Netflix app with this tablet is a complete chore. The new UI combined with the crappy hardware makes it almost impossible. Everything seems to move at about 1 frame per second when scrolling through your instant queue or the list of categories. It takes way too long to find what I'm looking for. That said, the actual video playback is fine. But this problem seems to persist in other apps. I can't play Tiny Tower because using the elevator after buildling 20+ floors is a choppy mess and takes twice as long as it should if the game ran smoothly. There's similar problems in games like TowerDefense and news apps like Pulse, where the tablet struggles to load anything. The Play Store is laughable, because once you start downloading anything the entire thing locks up until it's finished and it seems to have no ability to multitask whatsoever.
Why does this tablet exist? The hardware is ****, the price point is equally ****ty (I have the 10.1 so it's $400), and Samsung doesn't seem to care that ICS is a choppy mess with the specs. I'm incredibly disappointed.
I was thinking the same thing until I installed CM9
I was thinking the same thing until I installed CM9.
I was actually considering the Nexus 7, but am quite satisfied with the Galaxy Tab 2 7 now. With Cyanogenmod's announcement about CM10 and Jelly Bean I am pretty excited about the future of this tablet too.
Quacker said:
Trying to simply select a show in the Netflix app with this tablet is a complete chore. The new UI combined with the crappy hardware makes it almost impossible. Everything seems to move at about 1 frame per second when scrolling through your instant queue or the list of categories. It takes way too long to find what I'm looking for. That said, the actual video playback is fine. But this problem seems to persist in other apps. I can't play Tiny Tower because using the elevator after buildling 20+ floors is a choppy mess and takes twice as long as it should if the game ran smoothly. There's similar problems in games like TowerDefense and news apps like Pulse, where the tablet struggles to load anything. The Play Store is laughable, because once you start downloading anything the entire thing locks up until it's finished and it seems to have no ability to multitask whatsoever.
Why does this tablet exist? The hardware is *EDIT*, the price point is equally *EDIT* (I have the 10.1 so it's $400), and Samsung doesn't seem to care that ICS is a choppy mess with the specs. I'm incredibly disappointed.
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Click to collapse
Odd, I have a great experience with mine and it is just rooted stock. I traded in my asus tf300 for this and so far am quite happy with its snappy performance and colorful display.
Also, your language doesn't really help nor is it allowed. Having an angry rage post on a forum really isn't going to help anyone out so I would suggest calming down next time before posting on xda developers.
Recommend you do some research b4 you just start complaining about the device and software . I'm rooted and stock factory ROM and have no complaints. Get Titanium Backup and freeze or uninstall the apps you don't use (I froze them ) and the tab is now as fast and snapy as it should b . Also no problems with Netflix
Sent from my GT-P3113 using xda app-developers app
My only experience is limited to my Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. It is completely stock.
Netflix works perfectly and I do not notice any lag when browsing for movies.
During playback ,the video looks nice, much better than my iPad 2 and HP
Touchpad(Classicnerd ICS rom), but that's probably because the other two are
10-inch tablets.
I plan to try CM9 once my micro sd card arrives in the mail, but I'm not optimistic.
But you guys really don't get any lag whatsoever in the Netflix app? I'm using stock unrooted and I can barely scroll through the different rows; it practically locks up. The 7.0 and 10.1 have the same specs, right? I wonder if anyone else with the 10.1 has this problem.
@Darunion: Why did you trade your TF300 for the Tab 2, out of curiosity? I've been considering the exact opposite. And I apologize if a couple of s-words offended you somehow; I know we're all adults here but if it's indeed against the rules I will refrain next time. I'm not "raging" at all, but I just thought those adjectives worked best when describing this very frustrating tablet. /firstworldproblems
I have the 7 and haven't had any lag with cm9 and almost non existent lag on stock. I have a friend with the 10 and he can search/play with nextflix just fine.
I nor my friend have ever seen the tab lock up when downloading from the play store either.
Sounds like you got a bad tab more then anything.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using xda app-developers app
Found a video that shows what I'm talking about, albeit on the TF300, which suggests that this might not be a problem specifically for this tablet but rather the app's lack of tablet optimization. I'm finding it even laggier than shown here and sometimes I can't scroll at all (it also FC's regularly), but I may have been too quick to blame the Tab 2's hardware. This might just be an inherent disadvantage for Android tablets, and I'm experiencing similar sluggishness in similar apps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjhufve38r0&feature=player_detailpage#t=609s
Quacker said:
Found a video that shows what I'm talking about, albeit on the TF300, which suggests that this might not be a problem specifically for this tablet but rather the app's lack of tablet optimization. I'm finding it even laggier than shown here and sometimes I can't scroll at all (it also FC's regularly), but I may have been too quick to blame the Tab 2's hardware. This might just be an inherent disadvantage for Android tablets, and I'm experiencing similar sluggishness in similar apps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjhufve38r0&feature=player_detailpage#t=609s
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Click to collapse
I saw a review on the nexus 7. It wasnt laggy, but it wasnt as quick as the galaxy nexus with jellybean because of the companion core and the lack if iptimization in the os. With the galaxy tabs on jellybean itll be a lot quicker. That optimization may be fixed too, it could have just been the stupid companion core doing most of it.
I have yet to enjoy a good netflix UI on any device. Quality of hardware is a relative concept.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2
pogu said:
I have yet to enjoy a good netflix UI on any device. Quality of hardware is a relative concept.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Netflix on tablets, phones, PC, and PS3.
PS3 is hooked up to a Panasonic 1080p projector
with a 133" Da-Lite screen. Netflix works best
on this setup... but it's probably because the PS3
has the best graphics capability?
However, I enjoy watching Netflix on my Samsung
Galaxy Nexus(phone) and my Galaxy Tab 2 7.0(tablet)
as well. They all work equally well, depending on
the quality of VZW 4G and/or wi-fi.
Quacker said:
I plan to try CM9 once my micro sd card arrives in the mail, but I'm not optimistic.
But you guys really don't get any lag whatsoever in the Netflix app? I'm using stock unrooted and I can barely scroll through the different rows; it practically locks up. The 7.0 and 10.1 have the same specs, right? I wonder if anyone else with the 10.1 has this problem.
@Darunion: Why did you trade your TF300 for the Tab 2, out of curiosity? I've been considering the exact opposite. And I apologize if a couple of s-words offended you somehow; I know we're all adults here but if it's indeed against the rules I will refrain next time. I'm not "raging" at all, but I just thought those adjectives worked best when describing this very frustrating tablet. /firstworldproblems
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Click to collapse
I've really had no problem what so ever. I can't stand even 100th of a second in lag. You might just have hardware issues. I heart netflix. I switched to cm because I'm a fan. Not because of issues. My 7 tab is books and video only. And runs like a champ
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
I do always enjoy watching netflix, its the browsing. Roku, smart tvs, blue ray players, video game consoles, mobile devices, etc. The browsing UI always sucks, honestly I think wii had the best browsing experience but the worst picture.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2
Ok possible fix for Netflix try clearing data and force stop . I just did that and it feels more responsive . Also now I can choose the seasons of the episodes I was watching
Sent from my GT-P3113 using xda app-developers app
Happens to me 1 or 2 times a month. A fast reboot solves the problem every time.
Hey guys.
I would recommend you wstch this nice National Geographic documentaries, the landscaping and many of the images are outstanding.They look pretty nice on our tabs.
update to 4.04 made Netflix much snappier.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2
I have had no problem with Netflix or video or lag in general, actually less than my nexus7. And woah..language!!!lol
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2
Netflix working awesome on Galaxy Nexus, Nook Color, Galaxy Tab2 7, PS3, Roku, laptops and desktops. When the competition fails Netflix has always succeed for me. Are there hiccups? Sure and they are mostly associated with the UI but you can't be all things to all people and devices. Thing is NOBODY comes as close as Netflix.
I have been using Netflix on my 7-inch Tab 2 for over a month. It's really smooth and I do not notice any lag at all.
Perfectly smooth scrolling web pages are something that I've become accustomed to with the Ipad's I've had while waiting for a decent Android tablet. I thought the Nexus 10 would finally offer the smoothness of the Ipad with 4.2 and the awesome Exynos processor. Sadly, I can't find a browser that is nearly as smooth as Safari on the Ipad. I tried every browser I could find in the Market and even rooted and installed the AOSP browser. The AOSP browser is the best, but on image heavy sites, it still stutters.
Am I the only one that is bothered by this?
Why can the Nexus 10 run graphic heavy games at 30-40 fps but can't render a damn webpage with static graphics smoothly?
Also, I've found quite a few apps don't have smooth scrolling, but I suspect poor coding is causing the issue on them, even though knowing the cause doesn't help that that they are still inferior to their Ipad counterparts.
I don't want to go back to an Ipad! Will custom ROMs, kernels and OCing smooth it out?
The reason certain browsers including Chrome "stutter" is because of how it's coded. I've been using boat browser and I have no stutter issues or smoothness problems. Which other browsers have you tried other than aosp browser?
Sent from my Nexus 10 using xda app-developers app
I don't think browsers are optimized for the Nexus 10 or Android 4.2 just yet, hell, I don't think 4.2 or the Nexus 10 drivers are fully optimized at this time, but what I'm seeing of Dolphin and Boat Browser in the following video is pretty darn good, skip to 10 and 20 minutes.
Performance issues on this tablet are very likely software optimization issues and will be fixed eventually. Don't believe all the bad press that makes up stuff as they go along by saying the Exynos chip can't handle the resolution. That's garbage, and shows a pretty big misunderstanding of the processor/GPU. What amazes me is that even major tech sites with people who should know what they are talking about are saying it, and it drives me nuts.
The tablet has been out for less than a week. Developers need time to catch up, including Google with Chrome. If you look at the history of Nexus devices, they have always shipped with software issues, including very blatant issues that should have been fixed before release. The beauty of owning a Nexus however is that bug fixes come right from Google...no waiting on an OEM to deliver them.
A lot of the same issues were leveled against the Nexus 7, and after a couple of OTAs things have been greatly improved, and now everyone loves that tablet. Give it time. Things will get better.
MMcCraryNJ said:
Performance issues on this tablet are very likely software optimization issues and will be fixed eventually. Don't believe all the bad press that makes up stuff as they go along by saying the Exynos chip can't handle the resolution. That's garbage, and shows a pretty big misunderstanding of the processor/GPU. What amazes me is that even major tech sites with people who should know what they are talking about are saying it, and it drives me nuts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google is partially to blame, they handed out a pre-release stuttery models to reviewers after all. Things are better since the 13th update, but Chome is still doing the Nexus 10 a great disservice. Let's see how sites such as GSM and PhoneArena who patiently waited for the final model judge it, I think it's safe to say first impressions mean a lot, and they are testing units with fresh SW, multi-user accounts and performance improvements out of the box. Of course, as you said, there's plenty of performance still to come, and I can't wait to get mine!
johno86 said:
The reason certain browsers including Chrome "stutter" is because of how it's coded. I've been using boat browser and I have no stutter issues or smoothness problems. Which other browsers have you tried other than aosp browser?
Sent from my Nexus 10 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the rationale responses so far. Google is really shooting themselves in the foot with the lack of polish on Chrome, Android, etc. They are doing well overall, but just think of how good they could be doing with a few improvments to user experience here and there! Hire the programmers to make it happen Google!
I tried the Boat Browser and it was decent but not buttery smooth like Safari on the Ipad. I'll reinstall it and post a youtube video of the stutter tonight when I get home.
Boat Browser is the best. Safari might be a bit smoother but that is because you can't scroll as fast as Boat and Dolphin. Scroll it at the same speed for both if your hands is steady enough to slow scroll boat and you will see it is the same ****.
Don't let the i-tricks fool you by hiding stutter with animation and masking page load speeds with both a load bar and a background image loading spin wheel.
Also, after using some of the features on Boat, such as the screen shot and auto scroll top of the page or bottom of the page touch icon, you will never use another browser.
Have you tried Dolphin with Dolphin Jetpack addon? Just make sure you turn on jetpack in Dolphin setting. It's off by default.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
Chrome sucks. End of story. But it's not like the iPad is perfect either. I just browsed on my sisters iPad 4. It was quite a nice experience, I can't deny that, but there was some tiny lag on sites like Engadget and Android police
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
slide83 said:
Thanks for the rationale responses so far. Google is really shooting themselves in the foot with the lack of polish on Chrome, Android, etc. They are doing well overall, but just think of how good they could be doing with a few improvments to user experience here and there! Hire the programmers to make it happen Google!
I tried the Boat Browser and it was decent but not buttery smooth like Safari on the Ipad. I'll reinstall it and post a youtube video of the stutter tonight when I get home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you'll see Android be as smooth as iOS anytime soon. They are fundamentally different architectures and I think Google will likely stick with what they have in Android and wait for the hardware to catch up. Hardware was finally catching up starting with this generation but the large jump in resolution presents a *slight* setback in performance.
9 times out of 10 Jellybean is smooth enough for me. It is much better than it was in the past.
As for Chrome:
Like I've stated before, most of the development effort going into Chrome for Android for the last 6 months has been to upstream and open the source code rather than on performance and bugs. This is why Android is still on Chrome 18 while other platforms are on 24. There are several bug fixes that we'll get once they release Chrome 24 or 25 for Android, including a bug that makes Chrome laggy to scroll busy webpages.
Once Chrome is fully upstreamed, which looks like it might be for Chrome 25, it will then also be fully open source. This means we have make our own builds and do it as frequently as we want. Additionally, it is likely that we will see a much faster pace of development for Chrome as well.
slide83 said:
Thanks for the rationale responses so far. Google is really shooting themselves in the foot with the lack of polish on Chrome, Android, etc. They are doing well overall, but just think of how good they could be doing with a few improvments to user experience here and there! Hire the programmers to make it happen Google!
I tried the Boat Browser and it was decent but not buttery smooth like Safari on the Ipad. I'll reinstall it and post a youtube video of the stutter tonight when I get home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As others have said, software optimization is key. The biggest issue is that they are dealing with a new SoC, so there is more involved than just CPU and GPU coding. Almost all Android hardware has been Tegra so far, so that code is certainly mature at this point. Comparisons at this stage can be unreasonable in some cases. While the Exynos 4 series has been in use in the Note 10.1, but the 5250 has a new core -- the A15, which no one has experience with AFAIK -- new GPU, new memory architecture... Also, it's possible that Samsung wrote the drivers for the Note 10.1 while Google is taking responsibility for the N10.
So, my point is twofold:
Firmware development for this platform is at an early stage of maturity.
Optimization will be complex and won't be as easy as writing a few simple patches.
I think it will take some time for this new platform to reach its potential. The early adopters, as always, will have to be patient. I hope that gives you some reassurance that your N10 will still meet or exceed your expectations... in time.
slide83 said:
Perfectly smooth scrolling web pages are something that I've become accustomed to with the Ipad's I've had while waiting for a decent Android tablet. I thought the Nexus 10 would finally offer the smoothness of the Ipad with 4.2 and the awesome Exynos processor. Sadly, I can't find a browser that is nearly as smooth as Safari on the Ipad. I tried every browser I could find in the Market and even rooted and installed the AOSP browser. The AOSP browser is the best, but on image heavy sites, it still stutters.
Am I the only one that is bothered by this?
Why can the Nexus 10 run graphic heavy games at 30-40 fps but can't render a damn webpage with static graphics smoothly?
Also, I've found quite a few apps don't have smooth scrolling, but I suspect poor coding is causing the issue on them, even though knowing the cause doesn't help that that they are still inferior to their Ipad counterparts.
I don't want to go back to an Ipad! Will custom ROMs, kernels and OCing smooth it out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been an Android user for two years and in my honest opinion this is as good as it gets with it. There is something historically wrong with the core of Android where a game like Modern Combat 3 can look as smooth as silk, but browsing just feels like its being pushed to its limit.
A friend of mine this week bought himself a 32GB Nexus 7. I rushed round to have a play and was disappointed when trying out Chrome and Opera Mobile with these XDA forums. The Nexus 7 sported a quad-core processor and still browsing at times felt awkward and reluctant. It looked like the framerate wasn't right or the resolution was too much to handle. And that's with the latest update to Jelly Bean.
I did raise a similar issue with my Galaxy Tab 2 7" here and before anyone beheads me I had already flashed it with CM9 final. As I stated NOVA 3 was slick as oil, but browsing with Stock Browser, Opera Mobile and Chrome was making my eyes jump like mad. It looked like Chrome was trying to get around it by only rendering half the screen and then a split second later displaying the rest.
My niece's iPad 2 really impressed me when browsing on the XDA forums. The same pages I browsed on the Nexus 7 were scrolling as good as on a PC. Any comment that Android browsers scroll faster and therefore make the iPad look smoother is full of it. It was fast and it was smooth.
This will be last journey with Android. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna turn into an Apple user and get mugged off by paying ridiculous prices for a piece of their overinflated kit. My current smartphone and tablet will be with me for the next few years to come as the wow factor with all these mobile devices is disappearing, I'm afraid.
Easiest fix is ocean browser. Till they work out the kinks of chrome mobile/tablet version.
Also anyone saying safari on the ipads don't stutter are wrong they certainly do, perhaps not as often as chrome but it does happen. We use the gen 3's at work.
However to say there wasn't any conceivable improvement from Donut to JB I do find strange as I certainly did.
slide83 said:
Perfectly smooth scrolling web pages are something that I've become accustomed to with the Ipad's I've had while waiting for a decent Android tablet. I thought the Nexus 10 would finally offer the smoothness of the Ipad with 4.2 and the awesome Exynos processor. Sadly, I can't find a browser that is nearly as smooth as Safari on the Ipad. I tried every browser I could find in the Market and even rooted and installed the AOSP browser. The AOSP browser is the best, but on image heavy sites, it still stutters.
Am I the only one that is bothered by this?
Why can the Nexus 10 run graphic heavy games at 30-40 fps but can't render a damn webpage with static graphics smoothly?
Also, I've found quite a few apps don't have smooth scrolling, but I suspect poor coding is causing the issue on them, even though knowing the cause doesn't help that that they are still inferior to their Ipad counterparts.
I don't want to go back to an Ipad! Will custom ROMs, kernels and OCing smooth it out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
totally agree. for something that has great specs, its dissapointing to see it stutter when loading webpages. my ipad had lower specs compared to this and it was smoother by a mile than the nexus. i think thats the trade off for buying sometor buying something about to Mike about you can talk to my phone but they hired mejust too ****ing hi Billy.
okay the last part was typed using the voice and it sucks too.lol
Chrome currently really has its problems, but keep in mind that as dalingrin said, the mobile chrome version is 18 while the desktop version sits at 23. So there has been a lot of effort put into porting everything from desktop to android rather than bugfixing and polishing. The android version will catch up early next year: http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/1...s-including-android-starting-early-next-year/
In the meantime I recommend using the android stock browser. Its extremly fast and fluid and even supports flash.
I've been reading for quite awhile because I got myself one (it's still on the way to me, so no hands on yet). I got it mainly because it's a Nexus and I'm done with those 3rd modifications on top of vanilla.
However, I'm getting really mixed comments from all of you guys. Some said it's really nice, some said it's the worst tablet. Although things are always going back to people's own preference but from what I read, 4.2.2 did give lotsa headaches to users mainly because of leaked memory and so.
So users, can you give me your truthful comments from both pros and cons? I can only get the device by next week and after that, it will be my time to list out my very own pros and cons.
Thanks and cheers!
Nexus4 modded with cyanogen.
Yeah, you better cancel your order because some random a holes on the internet did not like something.
Well, the problem is, I can't. Plus, I'm still quite skeptical about the reboots and I have faith that it will be fixed with the update soon.
Are you one of the users?
I'm definitely ok with a bit of problems and it gives me perfect reason to root and tweak it on myself although some do claim that, it should work perfectly fine out of the box.
Nexus4 modded with cyanogen.
I'm running stock and can definitely say that the surfaceflinger memory exists. It becomes obvious when you play multiple videos (streaming or video files). When you do other activities this bug is not readily apparent.
I also from time to time get random WiFi disconnects, which are easily fixed by toggling the WiFi off/on. With that being said I really like my N10 and am using it for more than I expected when I bought it. The display resolution, I/O speed and CPU are all outstanding.
At least the memory leak can be fixed and I read that the surfaceflinger driver developer already has it ready. This gives me hope that Android 4.3 will include the fix. The N10 used as a media consumption device is very good/excellent. I am not disappointed with my purchase.
My laptop at the about same price point (after including N10 accessories) has not been turned on in over three months. All my news reading has move from my desktop PC to the N10. I was surprised at how smooth that transition went.
The only thing that really bothered me about the Nexus 10 is how it could throttle and lower CPU clocks under general usage (general being like playing a game). But then again, the Nexus 4 also does this...
Aside from that though, I find the N10 pretty awesome
The light bleed at the bottom right is the only thing that has bothered me much, but that's because the threads here pointed it out and turned on an OCD switch in me. After almost a month, I had my first two reboots last night, both while watching an hourlong streaming video from a TV network site (using Firefox with Flash). Other than that, couldn't be happier with my N10.
3DSammy said:
I'm running stock and can definitely say that the surfaceflinger memory exists. It becomes obvious when you play multiple videos (streaming or video files). When you do other activities this bug is not readily apparent.
I also from time to time get random WiFi disconnects, which are easily fixed by toggling the WiFi off/on. With that being said I really like my N10 and am using it for more than I expected when I bought it. The display resolution, I/O speed and CPU are all outstanding.
At least the memory leak can be fixed and I read that the surfaceflinger driver developer already has it ready. This gives me hope that Android 4.3 will include the fix. The N10 used as a media consumption device is very good/excellent. I am not disappointed with my purchase.
My laptop at the about same price point (after including N10 accessories) has not been turned on in over three months. All my news reading has move from my desktop PC to the N10. I was surprised at how smooth that transition went.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
espionage724 said:
The only thing that really bothered me about the Nexus 10 is how it could throttle and lower CPU clocks under general usage (general being like playing a game). But then again, the Nexus 4 also does this...
Aside from that though, I find the N10 pretty awesome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JasW said:
The light bleed at the bottom right is the only thing that has bothered me much, but that's because the threads here pointed it out and turned on an OCD switch in me. After almost a month, I had my first two reboots last night, both while watching an hourlong streaming video from a TV network site (using Firefox with Flash). Other than that, couldn't be happier with my N10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the thing that I always talk about. It's a nexus and all problems will be solved for sure by Google itself. With such a good display as well as the A15 architecture proc, it's really a beast and let alone the pure vanilla android.
People are a little bit over exaggerated about the bug, IMO. We receive the newest version and bugs are bearable with me. At least buyers should be aware of the firmware is always the latest which might be a little big buggy. Few positive comments over here are really making my day.
Another thing that bothered me is available RAM. Google states the tablet has 2GB of RAM, which is true (there is 2GB worth of RAM chips installed on the motherboard technically). Before 4.2.2, about 400MB was reserved specifically for the GPU, which is the largest amount of RAM I've seen on any Android device, so that left 1.6GB usable. Not that bad, and it still rounded to 2GB (most other devices though to be fair take like 200-300MB; but the N10 is driving a pretty beefy resolution)
WIth 4.2.2, the RAM reserved for the GPU doubled to 800-some MB (836?). So now the total RAM that the user can use on their own is 1.2GB. No longer nearly close to 2GB.
I guess nothing can really be done about it now, but I don't understand why there just isn't dedicated memory just for the GPU, or why Google doesn't just advertise how much RAM is actually available to use. This isn't an issue at all on most other devices, since the missing memory is usually a small amount, but when almost half of the advertised RAM is missing and not even user-configurable (most computers with IGPs sharing system memory at least let you specify how much you want to dedicated to it)... I find that pretty shady :/
On the other hand, I don't have any out-of-memory problems though (aside from the surfaceflinger thing), so it doesn't seem to be an "actual" issue.
I haven't really noticed anything wrong with my nexus 10 I think its great and fast. Also 4.3 is going to be released soon which should fix any software related issues and make it even smoother . I don't use my tablet as much as others might so maybe that's why I don't notice anything wrong. I generally use it 2-3 hours a day and the only thing I hat is the charging time which feels like forever and that it has a phablet ui rather than tablet look which wastes a little screen space. What they should do is get rid of notification bar and combine it with Nav bar like other tablets
Sent from my Xperia Play (r800x)
abdel12345 said:
... What they should do is get rid of notification bar and combine it with Nav bar like other tablets.
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Click to collapse
Use full!screen and LMT/PIE and get all the screen resolution back (full 2560x1600). full!screen gets rid of both bars and provides a notifications pop-up while LMT/PIE can be configured with all the navigation buttons plus much more. I've been using that combination on rooted stock for months now and would never go back to the waste of space that either bar takes.
I like the clean AOSP browser in fullscreen mode plus thumb controls but it does not always paint properly when used with full!screen (artifacts where the navigation bar used to be). I switched to Ocean browser which is really AOSP with a new UI and that fixed the fullscreen paint issue.
3DSammy said:
Use full!screen and LMT/PIE and get all the screen resolution back (full 2560x1600). full!screen gets rid of both bars and provides a notifications pop-up while LMT/PIE can be configured with all the navigation buttons plus much more. I've been using that combination on rooted stock for months now and would never go back to the waste of space that either bar takes.
I like the clean AOSP browser in fullscreen mode plus thumb controls but it does not always paint properly when used with full!screen (artifacts where the navigation bar used to be). I switched to Ocean browser which is really AOSP with a new UI and that fixed the fullscreen paint issue.
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Awesome thanks a lot man I'll try that out
Sent from my Xperia Play (r800x)
billy_overheat said:
Here's the thing that I always talk about. It's a nexus and all problems will be solved for sure by Google itself. With such a good display as well as the A15 architecture proc, it's really a beast and let alone the pure vanilla android.
People are a little bit over exaggerated about the bug, IMO. We receive the newest version and bugs are bearable with me. At least buyers should be aware of the firmware is always the latest which might be a little big buggy. Few positive comments over here are really making my day.
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If you can deal with random reboots don't worry about it. It really is something that depends on use. Watching YouTube via chrome will exacerbate the reboots. The actual app doesn't seem to eat the memory. However for my use I can't have it rebooting in the middle of a meeting or trying to dial into work so it has become something of a paperweight. I know how to consume the memory and how to avoid it but it will still eventually reboot. If your using it for goof off purposes instead of productivity you'll be fine. Also, please don't be an Android/Google apologist. They've had 6 months to fix the issue. And they don't market it as a device with buggy firmware that will reboot. If they called it Nexus 10 developer edition I'd agree with you.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
billy_overheat said:
So users, can you give me your truthful comments from both pros and cons? I can only get the device by next week and after that, it will be my time to list out my very own pros and cons.
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Pros:
- Highest resolution tablet on the market, nobody else comes close, even latest iPad has 25% less pixels. I had a Thunderbolt display at work last year and loved working with so much screen real-estate, well, this tablet has even more pixels in 10" than that display had in 27".
- First Android device with beefy Cortex A15 CPU, the Exynos 5 Dual, still the only tablet on the market with A15.
- I actually like the build, fairly thin and I like the sticky material on back.
- For $500 for 32 GB, the one I got, you won't find any device with such high-end specs.
- Android 4.2.2 is usually fairly snappy, sometimes I go back and forth between the home screen and the application drawer just to see the snazzy zoom-in/zoom-out animation and how fast it is.
Each one of these comes with drawbacks however.
Cons:
- You want a high resolution, you have to pay for it with power draw. The display consistently accounts for about 60% of battery usage, even though I keep the brightness at about 30% under light and dial it down to the lowest setting in a dark room. The colors are good but a bit washed out, particularly when compared to an iPad. I wish it had a matte display like my Zenbook, as the glossy display does catch reflections, but I'm not sure that's possible for a tablet.
- The Exynos 5 CPU takes more power than it should and runs somewhat hot. Not as hot as the Tegra 3 in my HOX+, but fairly warm.
- I was surprised how heavy 1.3 lbs felt from the first time I held it. The battery in this thing is huge, 9Ah, compared to 2-3 Ah in most current flagship phones, like the One or S4. It probably had to be so big with that power-sucking display and CPU, but it adds weight.
- The build is a bit creaky and sometimes feels like you have to snap particular pieces back into place, probably to be expected at this cheap price.
- Android still has times when it starts lagging and everything you do takes a second or two to register. These slowdowns often come out of the blue and you're never sure what's going on. This is a mobile OS, so prepare to be frustrated when apps are backgrounded and cached data is lost, particularly if you're expecting something closer to desktop performance because of the specs. The known memory leak in 4.2.2 exacerbates this problem.
I'm happy with my Nexus 10, as I enjoy the high resolution and don't use it anywhere as much as my ultrabook. Now that I know about the memory leak, I may start trying to use it for web reading again, which I had to give up on because it was unusable when Chrome would start reloading every page for no reason. Now I know to reboot when that starts happening, so I at least have a workaround till they fix it.
I love the tablet, for the way I use it - which may be considered light use by most here - it is perfect. The memory issue is real there is no doubt about that. But it is also easily avoided. I reboot my N10 with a tasker profile once during the night and that is that. However I game on it very rarely and use it mostly for streaming movies or just browing the web. One reboot each night seems to be enough to not make these issues appear.
Having said that I have none of the other reported issues, no random reboots or whacky Wifi - I turn Wifi off when the tablet is not in use - but I am also running SentinelRom which seems to be ironing out a lot of the smaller issues. With this ROM scrolling for example has become a silky smooth affair.
Battery life is excellent, much better than the boards make it out to be. I rarely use the N10 with brightness above 25% because it is already so bright on that setting there is no need for it. There may be light bleed - hey it's an LCD after all! - but I never notice any the way I use it. The display is gorgeous in every way, shape and form and I really really like the fact that putting it on lowest brightness makes it really dark. This is perfect for using it in bed at night without getting eye cancer.
With the POGO charger the tablet even has decent charging speed.
Regarding build quality I cannot complain at all. My tablet is not creaky in the least. I had a TF101 which was way worse. I mostly use it with a Poetic smart cover and couldn't be happier. The weight is of course noticeable, but then again this is 10 inches of hardware, it will never feel light as a feather.
Still there are some undeniable software issues still present. The memory leak being one, some issues with scrolling (except when using SentinelRom) being another. But I have yet to see the "perfect" android device which so far does not exist. Google still has a lot of work to do.
rxnelson said:
If you can deal with random reboots don't worry about it.
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Not getting the random reboots you speak of. Use my tablet 3-4 hours per day, sometimes more, and do not recall having 1 reboot. AOSP browser closures, yes, though with newer versions not as much. Have 2 Nexus 10 tablets, one stock, one sw display itching between SaberMod and Buttered AOKP.
Had both theTF101 and TF700. Went with the ASUS because of it's IPS+ display and SD card slot. 5 weeks after receiving, had to send it in for charging issues..oneof my main problems with the TF101. For the slight amount of money more for the Nexus 10, it is a much better option. Check out Swappa.com-can typically get a slightly used Nexus 10 for a really good price
mpicasso said:
Not getting the random reboots you speak of.
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You left out my next sentence. It depends on use. I can duplicate the surfaceflinger issue with eventual reboot on stock CM, buttered AOKP, and rasbean. Obviously we use the tablet differently.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
rxnelson said:
You left out my next sentence. It depends on used. I can duplicate the surfaceflinger issue with eventual reboot on stock CM, buttered AOKP, and rasbean. Obviously we use the tablet differently.
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I also left out the statement that got me to post originally: "However for my use I can't have it rebooting in the middle of a meeting or trying to dial into work so it mass become something of a paperweight." As the OP was curious about the reliability of this tablet, I wanted to offer a different perspective.
As a tablet for business, I use it for surfing (quote obtained from website, along with any needed client info), note taking, power point and excel, E-mail, along with a few other things. In a given day, I may spend 3-4 hours, while in client homes, using my tablet. So yes, we may use these differently, but for any "business" function I have thrown at it, it works fine. I also do not do many video presentations, which may explain why I do not experience the same issues as you.