[Q] ThinkPad Encryption - Performance Problems - Thinkpad Tablet General

I need to encrypt my Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet because I'm also using it for my job. But it seems, that the Performance of the ThinkPad Tablet is very weak. Lenovo offers the ThinkPad as an business Tablet. We all know, that this tablet is all but not a business ready tablet, but there should be a method to encrypt your tablet.
So, my question is how to encrypt my device without loosing a lot of performance and which ROM image is the best one to us the device in a secure way.
The Stock ICS Image is much faster than the old Android 3 one, but a lot of apps are very slow. I also tried the CM10-ROM in the developers section but, it seems it doesn't support any encryption. There is a button in the control panel, but it doesn't do anything. It would be nice if there would be another ROM out there which also supports encryption AND is fast enough for working.

Rei Hatsune said:
I need to encrypt my Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet because I'm also using it for my job. But it seems, that the Performance of the ThinkPad Tablet is very weak. Lenovo offers the ThinkPad as an business Tablet. We all know, that this tablet is all but not a business ready tablet, but there should be a method to encrypt your tablet.
So, my question is how to encrypt my device without loosing a lot of performance and which ROM image is the best one to us the device in a secure way.
The Stock ICS Image is much faster than the old Android 3 one, but a lot of apps are very slow. I also tried the CM10-ROM in the developers section but, it seems it doesn't support any encryption. There is a button in the control panel, but it doesn't do anything. It would be nice if there would be another ROM out there which also supports encryption AND is fast enough for working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cant expect and wonders here. Real Time decryption/encryption eats CPU like hell. You can only hope for a new Overclocking Kernel to get past this problem.

Related

Would you recommend buying Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet today?

I currently have a nook color and looking to get a larger tablet. I was first looking at the acer a500 but didn't like that wouldn't charge over usb (same with their a200 model, and the a200 loses hdmi I believe).
The Lenova thinkpad is currently selling for 349.99, (canadian prices) but acer just came out with their a510. The 510 has tegra 3 processor but otherwise the specs seem pretty similar and it's for 100 dollars more. And the Lenova has an ips display so I'm sure the screen is better.
A couple of things I want is charge over usb (even though it's slow, you're not completely stuck without an adapter) and I want usb hosting.
I saw one review on this and she mentioned that plugging in a harddrive didn't mount.
Can anyone expand on how good the usb host is? Drives/mice/keyboards? Mulitple devices via usb hub? I was even thinking on having it wired to my network (via usb over ethernet) and I saw a review that actually mentioned usb over ethernet driver is included with the a510.
From going over these forums I gather the Lenova honeycomb is a little buggy but plain stock ics is on the way in june. I didn't like reading a thread about fixing the power button, that definitely gives me pause.
I'd like to save where I can and I don't see a better tablet for 349 (remember in canada) offering what I want. So trying to decide if the extra 100 is worth it and just get the new (and already has ics) acer 510.
I really enjoy the Lenovo tablet however if flashing roms or doing a lot of customizing is your thing I would look at something different. I'm very happy with the hardware itself but dev support for this device is just not there. Now yes I know we have an ics port but its really the only rom avalible and there are quite a few bugs with GB stock rom. Lets just hope ics works better than GB does.
Sent from my ThinkPad Tablet using XDA
Maybe Not
From your use description, the ThinkPad Tablet may not be the best choice. The number one selling point for this tablet is the pen and active digitizer. I came here from an iPad2 because it could NOT support hand-written note-taking well enough for me to use in university classes. If acurate pen input is not high on your list then another tablet might be a better choice. Charging over USB may not work for you, my macBook Air running Linux has a software hack to provide extra current, the Thinkpad indicates that it is charging but I have not actually tested it for charge time or anything like that. The cheepo aftermarket charger I use for my Samsung Galaxy Note will NOT charge the ThinkPad.
The Accer is likely thinner and lighter which you could translate as more portable or less durable depending on your point of view.
-j
The Lenovo thinkpad tablet is mostly aimed at people who wants to "work" with their tablet. Being productive with note taking and so forth.
If you just looking for a tablet, get what ever you want. Could be the Lenovo thinkpad or that Tegra 3 tablet.
It's a great choice in many ways, unless you need GPS or a pen that works predictably. Good screen, decent battery life, good form factor, comfortable to hold.
Unfortunately for me, the pen and GPS are pretty much essential for utility. And they just don't work on this device.
I got the K1 in December because it was $250 for a 32gb tegra2 tablet with 10" 1200x800 screen. At this point, however, there's a multitude of tegra3 tablets being released so I'd either wait for those to drop in price or I'd pick up a current tegra2 if it's sub-$200. There was a dell streak 7" for $170 a few days ago. Granted that tablet has a low resolution screen and less than spectacular battery life but even high end tablets like the transformer and xoom have been in the $250 range recently.
If I needed pen input I'd only go for the thinkpad if it was significantly less than the Note. Samsung has hinted that their next Galaxy Tab may have pen input which may be worth waiting for.
Definitely Not!
SImply put I would not recommend Lenovo TPT at the moment. Feedback from the Lenovo developers conference and a recent WSJ article suggest that Lenovo will have a new "strategy"
which will produce a cheap android tablet and make their higher end offerings Win 8 tablets.
I am looking for my first tablet and was seriously considering a TPT but decided to wait for the TPT2 because of the problems plaguing the TPT. Now it looks like Lenovo will probably not produce a TPT2 so ot looks like I will wait for a Galaxy Note 10.1 ( I seriously want a pen ). Hopefully while I wait Lenovo's strategy will become clearer and hopefully it will include high end android tablets.
Not surprisingly considering how little attention Lenovo pays to resolving the TPT issues - little and none. :-/
The n-trig stylus is the biggest draw card, otherwise hard to recommend it.
Ditto. And once ICS ruins pressure sensitivity it's a no go.
Yes, Lenovos slow (and now poor quality) work on the ICS updates so far, their use of only patched updates, etc now make it impossible to recommmend it to either tech or non-tech users alike, where initially I was quite happy with it.
It's a new release for Lenovo, so their Android venture doesn't have all of the bugs worked out yet (including what the target market really wants, and all of that "fringy" stuff). I would say no, not now. I don't know what the competition offers, though, and I don't know what their bugs are.
Once everyone gets the ICS update, the camera focuses properly, the power button, usb port, and GPS hardware issues are resolved with newer releases of this tablet, then yes. The caveat is that you really need to know, then, when the tablet was manufactured to make sure you're not getting a flaky, early release that hasn't been fixed.
I'd definitely go for whatever Lenovo releases next.
That said, I can't imagine living without my stylus. I'll have to live without it, though, for what they said would be a week. I'm sending mine in for repair. They seem hellbent on keeping me happy.... We'll see.
Hm. Bleeding edge, I guess.
The short answer to your question is no. Search this forum for the immense dissatisfaction felt by users of this tab. When a company refuses to provide system images of their tablets needed because it would prevent them from selling custom Roms, that says it all about how selfish they are and that their priority is money not customer satisfaction. Read all about the gps issues, power button issues, broken USB ports, pen "wonk", botched updates, etc and the truth, (even to those singing lenovo's praises) is that being the first tablet of its type is no excuse because the tpt is filled with both hardware and software bugs. The galaxy note is the first phone of its kind with a pen yet its not like this bug-ridden POS. The tpt is a failure and if not for the pen that I manage to use when it works, I would have ditched the thing.
Its not even the negative actions of lenovo that bother me but the behavior behind it. For a so called business tablet, they provide zero support. Just imagine a tablet used for business being stuck in some bootloop and yet no custom image is provided for recovery unless you pay Lenovo $3000. Windows PCs come with recovery discs maybe Lenovo should learn from that. I WILL NOT be buying any Lenovo products because of these dodgy behaviors. And oh, I forgot to mention that they have a Backdoor into your tablet and they can patch whatever they want without your permission. They can probably steal your business info if they wanted.
When the Samsung tab with pen comes out, I will be moving swiftly as I have a long experience with Samsung devices such as my current gs2. They have never failed me.
Hey, but in the end, make your own choice. Just weighing in my 2cents.
TPT
No.. don't get one.... microUSB port for charging (which is painfully slow at the best of times) and ON/OFF switch fail... warranty support very variable. Lenovo forum on this topic is now about 20 pages long!! So.. no charging, not being able to switch on equals A LEMON!!
I was too interested in this tablet, but reading the previous comments I think I'd better wait, or ask for some more advice... also because I'm buying my first tablet and have no experience at all...
I just want an android tablet with its input stylus pen (and possibly a slot to keep the pen with the tablet).
I don't care much about its handwriting recognition software. I'm just interested in keeping ink "grahpics" notes (mainly math).
Display size should be around 10'' (say more than 9'')
Is there anything like that already available and/or advisable?
I saw reference to a "Samsung tab with pen" coming out... when will it be? What model?
Maybe I could also do with an ordinary tablet and with a separate (high quality) input pen?
Thanks for your help
toenail_flicker said:
Ditto. And once ICS ruins pressure sensitivity it's a no go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My n-trig on my TPT has been nothing short of amazing. It's the reason to get one of these. It's in the shop for repair (gps, power button, home key was giggly), so I haven't tried ICS on it yet, but pressure sensitivity is very much intact on my Galaxy Note on ICS.
I definitely prefer the n-trig over the s-pen (wacom), except for the clickiness.
As far as Lenovo goes, they seemed hellbent on making me happy when I called to send in the TPT, but I sent it in on the 1st, it's the 9th, and it's still sitting at the shop waiting for parts. It's listed as waiting for parts on both the 5th and the 7th, which means they didn't assess the thing upon arrival completely so they could order all the parts right way. That's just inept. It feels to me like dealing with a drinking alcoholic. If you get one, make it one that's proven working, and don't rely on support.
I have yet to plug anything in the TPT's usb port and not have it work. I might reccommend a GPS mouse....
The TPT is still the only game in town if you need a 10-inch tablet with an active pen (i.e., one that operates independently of one's own hand). I need a 10-inch tablet with an active pen, so I'd buy one again, today ... but probably not after the Galaxy 10 Note comes out (but right now that's vaporware).

[Q] Dual Boot Windows 8 and JB / ICS

Hi Guys,
I really want to get a dual booting tablet, as this means I will able to use the fantastic touch-based applications that Android has to offer, but when the need arises, I can use the Microsoft Office Suite or similar programmes, that are only available on Windows .
My two possibilities at the moment are either the Asus Transformer Infinity or the Windows Surface Pro, which comes out in three months. I know that the Samsung Series 7 Slate can be dual-booted, but I would prefer a tablet with a nice keyboard dock.
Do any of you guys know if Android X86 will work with the Surface Pro, and if so, with which functionalities?
Thanks
DarkyHero said:
Hi Guys,
I really want to get a dual booting tablet, as this means I will able to use the fantastic touch-based applications that Android has to offer, but when the need arises, I can use the Microsoft Office Suite or similar programmes, that are only available on Windows .
My two possibilities at the moment are either the Asus Transformer Infinity or the Windows Surface Pro, which comes out in three months. I know that the Samsung Series 7 Slate can be dual-booted, but I would prefer a tablet with a nice keyboard dock.
Do any of you guys know if Android X86 will work with the Surface Pro, and if so, with which functionalities?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or you could just use bluestacks and get away from the extra hassle. Not only is it less grief the having to reboot every time you want another os its also way more secure as it runs in its own sandbox and if you get infected just uninstall and go again as it wont be able to get to anything else on the device and brick it etc.
If you go for an AMD based tablet (non announced that I know of but AMD said they are already selling the oems for release tablets) then it runs with hardly any performance loss and in full screen with full touch everything just like it was android.
That said I do see the point as you can get all sorts of custom roms etc to play with .
I would be surprised if MS didn't try to lock you out from running other os's on the surface pro with some method in the bios but I don't think it will take much to get around as its basically just a laptop with a click on keyboard.
lumpaywk said:
or you could just use bluestacks and get away from the extra hassle. Not only is it less grief the having to reboot every time you want another os its also way more secure as it runs in its own sandbox and if you get infected just uninstall and go again as it wont be able to get to anything else on the device and brick it etc.
If you go for an AMD based tablet (non announced that I know of but AMD said they are already selling the oems for release tablets) then it runs with hardly any performance loss and in full screen with full touch everything just like it was android.
That said I do see the point as you can get all sorts of custom roms etc to play with .
I would be surprised if MS didn't try to lock you out from running other os's on the surface pro with some method in the bios but I don't think it will take much to get around as its basically just a laptop with a click on keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already have the HTC One X, which is an Android phone, so I would like to sync my apps with the tablet. I have tried Bluestacks before, and I don't think the performance is the greatest, but that's just my opinion.
Which AMD tablets are you talking about?

Looking for a tablet with specific needs! HAAALP!!!

Alright, here's the situation. I recently set up my own desktop for gaming and that takes care of all my other activities too. I have a laptop (13" MBP) that I am contemplating doing away with in favor of portability and quite frankly I don't need all that power as the desktop makes it redundant. This has me thinking about getting a tablet to replace the lappy. Ideally I want something in the 10" range, 7" being too small. I want my tablet to be able to connect pen drives, keyboards (in case I need to create a document or two).
Dont hate me for this, but I have narrowed my choice down to the N10, iPad 3rd Gen and the Surface RT. Now I have heard complaints about how the N10 is stutter'y'. And I am not sure how good an investment an RT tablet is going to be. I would have liked to get the Surface Pro, but I cannot justify that price.
I would really appreciate inputs for any user (especially those who have had or still have an ipad and the N10). Maenwhile, I am trying to go through all the threads and see if I can get some info.
TIA
- don t buy the RT - waste of time and money. ( limited in every way )
-nexus 10 its ok but if you can wait .... wait for something better with android ( the closest compare with a laptop - yet )
you can attach easy a mouse with just an otg cable ... or a bt keyboard ...
- ipad 3 its ok also but only if you can agree with IOS ... not good for a desktop replacement .
- you can still take consider a 8 inch tablet . it s not so small as you think . ( this is really portable )
see the compare topic in general nexus 10 forum - ask there better
Sent from my Nexus 10 using xda app-developers app
anirudh412 said:
Alright, here's the situation. I recently set up my own desktop for gaming and that takes care of all my other activities too. I have a laptop (13" MBP) that I am contemplating doing away with in favor of portability and quite frankly I don't need all that power as the desktop makes it redundant. This has me thinking about getting a tablet to replace the lappy. Ideally I want something in the 10" range, 7" being too small. I want my tablet to be able to connect pen drives, keyboards (in case I need to create a document or two).
Dont hate me for this, but I have narrowed my choice down to the N10, iPad 3rd Gen and the Surface RT. Now I have heard complaints about how the N10 is stutter'y'. And I am not sure how good an investment an RT tablet is going to be. I would have liked to get the Surface Pro, but I cannot justify that price.
I would really appreciate inputs for any user (especially those who have had or still have an ipad and the N10). Maenwhile, I am trying to go through all the threads and see if I can get some info.
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The n10 is a speed demon. It will be a while before apps are able to fully utilize the power that this SoC has. There really isn't any performance issues other than poorly optimized apps. If you do run into any problems as long as you are comfortable rooting and using custom ROM/Kernel combo then nothing is an issue.
Yeah, the RT seems to be a no go. Too bad, its a nice piece of kit (especially the touch cover).
From what I gather, the n10 seems to have its issues like choppiness and stutter because of
1. The insane number of pixels it needs to push and
2. Non optimized stock android
But yeah, an android tablet is my best bet for a laptop replacement.
For now, however, even though I am by no means averse to the entire idea of flashing roms (one reason why I never move away from android phones), i decided I needed something tried and tested. Got the 4th Gen iPad. I just hope google optimizes android on tablets, at least their own nexus line. It will also be fun to see what Apple does with their much anticipated iOS7.
Thanks for all your help guys :highfive:
Shame really because the Ipad won't connect to a BT mouse. Just a keyboard. The N10 isn't stuttery for what I am using it for - some apps may be, but there are always others.
Alan
Since I have a NX10 my laptop sits all the time alone in the corner. If needed, I just plug one receiver over OTG that is connect to mouse and keyboard plus a monitor over HDMI and voila, I dont need really a laptop anymore. Sitting all the day on the desktop at work makes using NX10 and home really relaxing...
My Nexus 10 doesn't have the choppiness or stuttering you keep referring to.
I'm on kaos rom with Franco kernel r10. Never had a better experience other than on KTmanta kernel.
If you know how to utilize an android tablet to its fullest you'll find that it replaces laptops better than ios or windows.
I have not used my laptop since the release of this tablet.
Any thread complaining about choppiness is more than likely due to using apps that aren't optimized for the Nexus 10. I tend to ignore threads that generalize the device since it ends up being user error due to them changing something or trying something new, etc.
Nexus 10 is still new and I'm sure there will be plenty of great improvements over the year.
Sent from my Nexus 10

Lenovo A1000L

I recently went to one of my local Best Buy stores and came across this tablet in a bundle the Lenovo A1000L tablet, a case and the screen protector. I kind of poked around on a display model they had and decided to give it a try. One of my major motivations for giving this particular model a try was because of the many negative reviews I found for this device. I am starting this thread to find other XDA members who either own or are familiar with this tablet. I basically wanted to get some user experiences, likes and dislikes or any positive or negative opinions regarding this device. I only had this device for about 3 hours and so far I have rooted it installed my favorite home launcher and after what I read in reviews I am surprised because it actually installed all 70 plus of my apps from the Play Store and then a few more apk files for customizations and I am not having any issues with running out of space or any issues with the device as of yet. I also have some movies,pictures and my music collection on the micro SD card in the event that I am unable to connect to Netflix or iHeart radio! I am going to keep playing around with this device and see how well it holds up. I welcome anyone else to post here regarding their experience or knowledge of this device. One thing I will note that I have noticed so far is the screen or picture quality is not as great as it could be especially when compared to other devices. I had also read a few complaints about the partitioning/storage setup that Lenovo used on this device. It appears the smaller section labeled internal memory has the system files stored there. Now this partition is much smaller than the other so there is not much space for apps. However when you go into settings it allows you to change the default location for apps that you install. The second larger partition is labeled USB storage and it allowed me to move all of my apps/data to that partition. This is a plus because the feature is built into the operating system as it should be. I actually liked the way Lenovo setup the their home launcher on this device but opted to install my favorite the Xperia z launcher port that I found here on XDA Developers.
I own this model too and can u share how you rooted it ? :good:
Rooting A1000L?
It seems ok for the price I paid at Office Depot ($75) but I wish the screen was better. My major complaint is that the viewing angle is quite horrible (not more than maybe about 30-40degrees). So far it seems pretty fast and responsive. But Chrome browser does not work very well. When scrolling through a long page, it jerks and flashes a lot. Internal Android browser if fine.
Could you provide details of how you rooted this? I saw some instructions for A1000, but not for the A1000L? Would the same procedure/tools that work for the A1000 work for this too?
Thanks.
Yes I followed the guide here on the forums for the A1000 one click root ! It worked fine! If you follow each step you will not have any problems! I also have a Lenovo Yoga Tablet 8 and I rooted this one using the same guide!
Sent from my Lenovo B6000-F using Tapatalk 4
Thanks a lot. I'll try rooting it soon :good:

My Z4 Tablet Pros and Cons

This might help people eyeing the Z4 Tablet, but are unsure of what positives and negatives there are. Of course, this is highly subjective, but this is my list. It's influenced by my personal competing choices which were the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 and the Google Pixel C. I'm happy I chose the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet.
Pros:
Fast SoC (Qualcomm Snapdragon 810)
This is Qualcomm's 2015 flagship SoC and from what I've experienced it's really fast. Android flies. It also runs 64-bit, which it should anyway, but for example Samsung's Tab S2 doesn't. I don't know about the graphical performance as I don't really play games.
'Compatible' SoC (Qualcomm Snapdragon 810)
This opens up the way for optimized-for-specific-SoC apps (like RSBrowser, which is Snapdragon-optimized and significantly faster than stock Chrome/Chromium) and CyanogenMod support, that need documentation/drivers. For example, Samsung's (faster) Exynos SoC's are a black box for developers, which makes things like this very hard and has the result of devs abandoning it.
Big internal storage (32GB)
32GB is plenty of storage for apps and a reasonable amount of media. But that can be stored on the microSD.
microSD capability (up to 128GB)
This is a major benefit for a media consumption device like this, which many devices don't have.
Good multitasking
I could have mentioned 3GB RAM, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Multitasking on the Z4 is pretty darn good. It swtiches quickly and is generally very snappy. My Samsung Galaxy S6 with 3GB RAM has pretty bad RAM management in comparison. I'm still trying to find a custom kernel for it that keeps the phone snappy after 2 days.
Huge screen solution, high ppi on a big screen
2560x1600, 299ppi. On a big 10.1 inch screen. This is wonderful.
16:10 aspect ratio screen
Which is good for widescreen content like movies and dSLR photo's. 16:10 also beats 16:9 for me because of the added screen height.
Screen has natural, accurate colors
Very subjective, but compared to several other screens I've found this one to be superior.
Front facing stereo speakers
A rare thing among Android devices. Good design choice.
Lightweight (~390gr), thin
It's pleasantly light to hold.
NFC, notification LED, GPS, vibration motor
These features are often overlooked, but are important to me. I use NFC for LastPass, the (multicolor!) LED with LightFlow to see what exactly is asking my attention when in standby, vibration to still be notified when I want the tablet to be silent and GPS for the occasional navigation need or social app check-in.
Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0
Another nice bonus, which isn't mentioned much. Quick Charge makes a major difference to charging speed. Needs a compatible charger though.
Big battery (6000mAh)
Can't yet say battery life is amazing, because I'm using it a lot and crank the screen brightness up quite high so don't know what to expect. Reviewers seem to agree it's great though.
Bootloader can be unlocked (so the road is open for rooting)
No waiting for an exploit if you're OK with going this route. Just follow Sony's instructions and you'll have root in no time.
Marshmallow announced
Should come January '16 I heard, but these things always get delayed :| At least it's coming.
AOSP commitment by Sony
Sony's Open Device Program is nice and all, but their sources are a bit troublesome and don't seem to produce functional ROMs. Still, Sony's stance on it might bode well for future things.
Water-/dustproof
I don't care much myself, but it's a nice bonus. At least it takes some worries away (dropping liquids on it, no fear for dust particles between the screen and the glass).
Keyboard dock option
Nice for when you want to use a physical keyboard that is fully compatible and is also attachable. I use a 3rd party BT keyboard, but I'm constantly fighting with fixing incompatible button mapping stuff.
Important root-specific things that work
These things are not guaranteed to work or be available on any rooted device, and are pretty major in adding possibilities, so I consider them pros to be working on the Z4T:
Xposed Framework
For most people anyway (Some are having issues). This is a thing to be happy about, because if it didn't, chances are it wouldn't be fixed anytime soon because of the small user/dev base. Xposed opens up many possibilities which really enhance a device. To me it's a selling point.
Native KCAL support
Another Qualcomm exclusive. I believe this is actually fully present on the stock ROM, but not fully controllable (limited to RGB in the Settings menu). KCAL support enables you to tweak various image parameters, like RGB, saturation and contrast with a tool like Color Control or Kernel Adiutor. It's pretty great and you don't see it often.
Cons:
SoC might overheat in extreme circumstances
Haven't had any problems myself, and I stress the tablet pretty hard, but I've read some reports about issues. At least of a guy bringing the tablet to the beach. It's mostly just people saying it's fine, even with heavy usage.
Speakers are lacking in bass
No surprise, but it's still a letdown.
Bad low-light camera performance, no flash
Picture quality in low light is disturbingly bad. Having no flash makes this unusable in those situations. Not a big deal for me personally, I don't take pics with a tablet.
Screen isn't that bright
Compared to several others, the screen isn't that bright and needs to be cranked up pretty much, even indoors. Outdoors, this is a problem. The big screen reflectiveness doesn't help either. Indoors it fine, it just that the needed high brightness level eats battery.
Screen lacks deep blacks
This is compared to (S)AMOLED, specifically. Those screen blacks are amazing and darker colors are also good for battery on those screens. IPS screens just don't have that. Using dark themes won't help battery life on the Z4T, it may even be worse with them.
Stock charger isn't Quick Charge 2.0
Come on, Sony.
No hardware navigation buttons
This is a real PITA for me because this requires Android's soft keys / navigation bar which take up valuable screen space. This is especially problematic in landscape mode on this 16:10 ratio in which you'll want every screen height you can get. Fortunately, this can be overcome by tools like GMD Full Screen Immersive Mode (with full screen keyboard typing restrictions so you'll have to switch back to type :S) combined with All in One Gestures, both of which don't reqquire root. Better yet is a build.prop edit that declares to Android the tablet has hardware buttons, removing the soft keys entirely, while keeping the ability to type anywhere. I navigate using All in One Gestures, because GMD GestureControl sometimes stops working. Which isn't very nice when you don't have navigation keys
No user-land root exploit (yet)
Because of this, you'll need to unlock the bootloader to gain root access. Which will destroy your TA partition, which will in turn remove Sony-proprietary functions. Which I personally don't use and don't see much use for anyway. Also, unlocked bootloader can't be undone without Sony noticing, so as a non-EU citizen you'll possibly have warranty issues.
Small user/dev community
Not many people own a Z4 Tablet (bad availability in the US and it's expensive) and because of this, there's next to no development for it. Luckily, we have @AndroPlus who's made a custom kernel and ported TWRP (which unfortunately has a bug that keeps us from restoring the system partition from a backup). @DHGE worked on root, which made it possible in the end I think. Still, custom ROMs would be nice. Also, if you run into device-specific problems, there's not many others that can help, because you're either the only one or one of very few who have that problem.
It's expensive
The price is very high and a bit hard to justify.
What I miss:
Wireless charging
This is sooo convenient. It also spares the precious MicroUSB port, which is used for charging, data-transfer, USB-OTG and adb/fastboot. If it breaks, you're done.
Removable battery
Batteries do not have eternal life, so eventually it will be completely dead. Which will render the tablet dead as well.
Any thoughts, questions, additions or critique is welcome.
jelbo said:
[*]Small user/dev community
Not many people own a Z4 Tablet (bad availability in the US and it's expensive) and because of this, there's next to no development for it. Luckily, we have @AndroPlus who's made a custom kernel and ported TWRP (which unfortunately had a bug that keeps us from restoring the system partition from a backup). @DHGE worked on root, which made it possible in the end I think. Still, custom ROMs would be nice. Also, if you run into device-specific problems, there's not many others that can help, because you're either the only one or one of very few that have that problem.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello jelbo. Let's discuss about it. First of all, our tablet is not alone with some sort of problem. z3+ and z5 devices are the same story. I don't really understand how can we have aosp sources but not to have its rom. So what the problem, some building problem, or is it true that aosp roms works without working sensors? People give different feedback. Did you try some aosp rom? I just want to cook aosp rom in ubuntu.
alex009988 said:
Hello jelbo. Let's discuss about it. First of all, our tablet is not alone with some sort of problem. z3+ and z5 devices are the same story.
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Yes, they're similar. Which actually makes me think about a positive point as development for those devices can also benefit Z4T owners. For example @[NUT]'s efforts may eventually reach us, or when an Xperia user-land exploit is found, it will likely be shared among different devices.
I don't really understand how can we have aosp sources but not to have its rom. So what the problem, some building problem, or is it true that aosp roms works without working sensors? People give different feedback. Did you try some aosp rom? I just want to cook aosp rom in ubuntu.
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I'm not too sure about the reasons, but what I've seen is that 1) the Sony sources are/have been a bit buggy/messy 2) not many people compile ROMs from it (I've only seen 2 XDA users and the FXP Team).
I haven't yet dared to flash any AOSP build because I've been too busy on getting stock rooted to my liking and troubleshooting my Xposed issues and I don't want to interrupt that. It seems to be quite easy to flash ROMs though, it's either a TWRP flashable .zip, Flashtool flashable .tft or fastboot flashable .bin files.
I'm also curious about the mixed reports about 'sensor stuff not working' and 'everything works fine' on Sony-sourced AOSP builds, but so far no-one has answered my or your questions about it. Seems we'll have too find out ourselves at some point Best leave that part of questions and discussion in their respective threads to keep things organized.
Nice summary, thanks for the effort; its clear and concise.
jelbo said:
it's either a TWRP flashable .zip,
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I think free xperia team jeer at us cause twrp has a serious bug and it can't flash any roms for the time being whereas we can see exactly .zips at their site.
Interesting, had they even tested themselves what they uploaded
jelbo said:
Yes, they're similar. Which actually makes me think about a positive point as development for those devices can also benefit Z4T owners. For example @[NUT]'s efforts may eventually reach us, or when an Xperia user-land exploit is found, it will likely be shared among different devices.
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Click to collapse
I've put XZDualRecovery on 'feature freeze' for 2.8 well over a year ago, because it needs some work to keep it working on the ever changing Android eco-system. As a consequence, I also stopped adding devices to the supported devices list. For XZDR 2.9 things will change and I will start adding devices again, remember that I am just on my own, from time to time I have a helper but they generally drop out after a while and I'm on my own again after that... I have a busy real life and a very busy job, which consumes most of my energy, leaving only little amounts of it for use on the XZDR development unfortunately... and I have big plans with it which I'd rather deploy sooner then later.
As security features increase, so do the difficulties to keep XZDR working properly... For the Z3+/Z4/Z5/M4 Aqua it is dm-verity, which throws a tantrum once the system partition is modified, which in turn causes a reboot (and with that a bootloop). This behavior has hampered the Stock Based custom ROM development and made it generally impossible to root the device...
A backup-ta with a built-in root exploit (similar to the XZDR installer) to allow a backup of the TA partition would kick-start the development for these models. People don't mind unlocking their devices but do mind losing their warranty on a 500-700 euro device... so most of them wait for the possibility to backup their TA partition.
Oh, and to actually participate in this topic:
I have to say the Z4 tablet takes my fancy and tics just about all the boxes of things I like about tablets... I own a Xperia Tablet Z, well, the misses has it now and I can 'occasionally' touch it :silly: and I have been looking for a new tablet to actually use myself
I don't have the funds to purchase a TabZ4, but I would really like to have one with the keyboard dock
[NUT] said:
Oh, and to actually participate in this topic:
I have to say the Z4 tablet takes my fancy and tics just about all the boxes of things I like about tablets... I own a Xperia Tablet Z, well, the misses has it now and I can 'occasionally' touch it :silly: and I have been looking for a new tablet to actually use myself
I don't have the funds to purchase a TabZ4, but I would really like to have one with the keyboard dock
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Hello. Thanks for participating our thread. Tab Z4 is a great device with cool hardware, but it is less developed in comparison with Samsung to my regret. All we want for this moment are a fix of bug for twrp, problem with mounting the system, and some customs roms. And the very big dream is cyanogenmod of course
@jelbo, where in NL do you live? Did you root your TabZ4 yet?
---------- Post added at 02:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:26 PM ----------
alex009988 said:
Hello. Thanks for participating our thread. Tab Z4 is a great device with cool hardware, but it is less developed in comparison with Samsung to my regret. All we want for this moment are a fix of bug for twrp, problem with mounting the system, and some customs roms. And the very big dream is cyanogenmod of course
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Well, I am assuming that custom ROM's will come as soon as there is a viable way to flash them
I wonder why @AndroPlus wasn't able to fix the TWRP mount issues yet...
alex009988 said:
Hello. Thanks for participating our thread. Tab Z4 is a great device with cool hardware, but it is less developed in comparison with Samsung to my regret. All we want for this moment are a fix of bug for twrp, problem with mounting the system, and some customs roms. And the very big dream is cyanogenmod of course
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Click to collapse
I'm pretty confident CM will support the 'karin' at some point. Many other Sony phones/tablets are officially supported.
[NUT] said:
@jelbo, where in NL do you live? Did you root your TabZ4 yet?
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I'll tell you in a PM Yeah, I've unlocked my bootloader and rooted it. I couldn't restrain myself anymore It's so much better now. Just some littles gripes left that'll be fixed sooner or later.
Well, I am assuming that custom ROM's will come as soon as there is a viable way to flash them
I wonder why @AndroPlus wasn't able to fix the TWRP mount issues yet...
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Time restraints, who knows? He did post a v11 version of the kernel some days ago though @dl12345 who greatly helped him getting TWRP to work, may be able to fix it, but he hasn't been around. You can follow some technical details about it in the AndroPlusKernel thread.
It's just /system/ that cannot be restored though. Which is bad, but you can get out of a bad situation pretty quickly with restoring /data/ and using Helium/Titanium Backup, I think. Unless you really fried the ROM and need your /system/ back, then you can only go the flashtool route now
jelbo said:
I'm pretty confident CM will support the 'karin' at some point. Many other Sony phones/tablets are officially supported.
I'll tell you in a PM Yeah, I've unlocked my bootloader and rooted it. I couldn't restrain myself anymore It's so much better now. Just some littles gripes left that'll be fixed sooner or later.
Time restraints, who knows? He did post a v11 version of the kernel some days ago though @dl12345 who greatly helped him getting TWRP to work, may be able to fix it, but he hasn't been around. You can follow some technical details about it in the AndroPlusKernel thread.
It's just /system/ that cannot be restored though. Which is bad, but you can get out of a bad situation pretty quickly with restoring /data/ and using Helium/Titanium Backup, I think. Unless you really fried the ROM and need your /system/ back, then you can only go the flashtool route now
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* [NUT] pokes @AndroPlus to join this conversation.
Due to lack of time on my side to read the entire topic, what exactly fails when restoring system?
@jelbo, do you have his kernel installed (a.k.a. have you unlocked your bootloader)?
[NUT] said:
* [NUT] pokes @AndroPlus to join this conversation.
Due to lack of time on my side to read the entire topic, what exactly fails when restoring system?
@jelbo, do you have his kernel installed (a.k.a. have you unlocked your bootloader)?
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Yes and yes. Basically anyone here who's rooted their tablet is running AndoPlusKernel and have manually unlocked their bootloader.
jelbo said:
Yes and yes. Basically anyone here who's rooted their tablet is running AndoPlusKernel and have manually unlocked their bootloader.
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I see, that un-complicates testing a lot
Gotta say... amazing tablet all together and the first device that i havent seen the mighty snapdragon handwarmer throttle from heat in. I kept roasting it for about 3 hours with simpleplanes and PC minecraft (boardwalk app) and it didnt lose any performance just got a bit hot on the back middle. I find the battery life to be good enough for a day of being on and off watching youtube and occasional gaming but i do keep screen brightness on auto at all times and features such as BT NFC and GPS off. Also a app that i think the tablet should have from factory: OGYoutube, you can have floating resizeable youtube above other apps or play in background or with screen off and download in mp4 or mp3.
I'd picked up a Z4T about 4 months ago to replace two different devices, my aging and finally dead cell phone (I hung on to my old Samsung S3 for way too long), and my laptop, which is a still functional but extraordinarily heavy beast of a 17" macbook - about 6 years old on its own as well. What can I say, they were still working so why buy new?
I have to say I'm very glad I made the purchase. I picked up a SBH52 handset to make phone calls more convenient, and splurged on the sony docking kb for the added ruggedness of using it as a "case" - which it does like a champ. Calls are nice and clear, and I've had pretty much no troubles - aside from some occasional static when using the handset (which I owe to the handset itself being a bit flaky). Even with an unlocked BL, remote play on my PS4 still works, only the Bravia screen mirroring to my TV is kaput. It serves very well as a laptop for those like me that need something lightweight for overnight trips, let with a big enough screen to be able to remote desktop troubleshoot back to the main office.
Would this replace every computer I own? Obviously not. I still own a high end desktop for videos, games, and intense word processing (the sony kb is just a bit small if you were attempting to write a novel for example); and my PS4 for console games; but for light end use and for traveling, it's almost the perfect laptop replacement. And as a combo cellphone laptop? I couldn't ask for better. My overall data usage has also dropped, because I'm using far more wireless on this device (I want to make sure it's connected for the stability if nothing else), but I can always drop out to a cell connection if no wireless is available - or if I don't feel like paying the stupid prices at the hotel the convention is being held at.
Now for the Cons:
I've really only got two, one of which was mentioned here. The damn thing is not cheap. Since I live in the states, the LTE version is not available directly. You need to pick up an international version from amazon or another reputable source. Hence the reason I have a kb with extra non-english symbols on it. Not that I mind, but it confuses some people when they look at it. When I picked mine up, the tablet kb and handset ran about $900 US all together. so not something you want to accidentally brick, or drop, or leave behind in a restaurant....
The second one is convenience. Given that it is a tablet - and a fairly large one, most people aren't going to go the phone replacement route like I did. You can't exactly just slip it into your pants pocket. And since the handset is BT, you can't exactly leave the tablet in the car and just use the handset inside most restaurants either (unless you park really close to the building). I'll often leave mine at home if all I do is run to the store for a dozen eggs or something, just because it's easier not to pack it up. But then half an hour of being unconnected and out of touch doesn't bother me - it might bother some though.
So there you have it, a much less technical review, from yet another satisfied user.
begalund said:
I'd picked up a Z4T about 4 months ago to replace two different devices, my aging and finally dead cell phone (I hung on to my old Samsung S3 for way too long), and my laptop, which is a still functional but extraordinarily heavy beast of a 17" macbook - about 6 years old on its own as well. What can I say, they were still working so why buy new?
I have to say I'm very glad I made the purchase. I picked up a SBH52 handset to make phone calls more convenient, and splurged on the sony docking kb for the added ruggedness of using it as a "case" - which it does like a champ. Calls are nice and clear, and I've had pretty much no troubles - aside from some occasional static when using the handset (which I owe to the handset itself being a bit flaky). Even with an unlocked BL, remote play on my PS4 still works, only the Bravia screen mirroring to my TV is kaput. It serves very well as a laptop for those like me that need something lightweight for overnight trips, let with a big enough screen to be able to remote desktop troubleshoot back to the main office.
Would this replace every computer I own? Obviously not. I still own a high end desktop for videos, games, and intense word processing (the sony kb is just a bit small if you were attempting to write a novel for example); and my PS4 for console games; but for light end use and for traveling, it's almost the perfect laptop replacement. And as a combo cellphone laptop? I couldn't ask for better. My overall data usage has also dropped, because I'm using far more wireless on this device (I want to make sure it's connected for the stability if nothing else), but I can always drop out to a cell connection if no wireless is available - or if I don't feel like paying the stupid prices at the hotel the convention is being held at.
Now for the Cons:
I've really only got two, one of which was mentioned here. The damn thing is not cheap. Since I live in the states, the LTE version is not available directly. You need to pick up an international version from amazon or another reputable source. Hence the reason I have a kb with extra non-english symbols on it. Not that I mind, but it confuses some people when they look at it. When I picked mine up, the tablet kb and handset ran about $900 US all together. so not something you want to accidentally brick, or drop, or leave behind in a restaurant....
The second one is convenience. Given that it is a tablet - and a fairly large one, most people aren't going to go the phone replacement route like I did. You can't exactly just slip it into your pants pocket. And since the handset is BT, you can't exactly leave the tablet in the car and just use the handset inside most restaurants either (unless you park really close to the building). I'll often leave mine at home if all I do is run to the store for a dozen eggs or something, just because it's easier not to pack it up. But then half an hour of being unconnected and out of touch doesn't bother me - it might bother some though.
So there you have it, a much less technical review, from yet another satisfied user.
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Thanks for sharing
So I am coming to this device from the Nvidia Shield Tablet and I love the device thus far for all of the positive reasons mentioned. Also with respect to screen brightness listed as a con my own experience is that it is much better than what I was coming from.
The battery life is truly great with this device and my needs are small when it comes to the development area. I simply need it to be rooted because I prefer to remove all of googles garbage that I don't use and rooting and bootloader unlock was very simple.
All in all I am really liking this device, had it about 10 days now. I have the LTE version but only because I may use it at some point.
Overall very pleased with the device so far.
ThePhoneGeek said:
So I am coming to this device from the Nvidia Shield Tablet and I love the device thus far for all of the positive reasons mentioned. Also with respect to screen brightness listed as a con my own experience is that it is much better than what I was coming from.
The battery life is truly great with this device and my needs are small when it comes to the development area. I simply need it to be rooted because I prefer to remove all of googles garbage that I don't use and rooting and bootloader unlock was very simple.
All in all I am really liking this device, had it about 10 days now. I have the LTE version but only because I may use it at some point.
Overall very pleased with the device so far.
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I was seriously considering the Shield because of the dev scene and the price. What made you switch?
jelbo said:
I was seriously considering the Shield because of the dev scene and the price. What made you switch?
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The device itself just isn't very efficient on battery and I needed something with a slightly larger screen. It does ok but it's really designed more as a gaming device IMO which wasn't what I needed. Also the specs are a bit outdated now.
I noticed in the op that he said being a non eu customer when unlocking bootloader they will notice. Im an eu user, does this mean that they wont notice if I try claim warranty after bootloader unlock? I havent unlocked yet but I was getting slow WiFi and disconnections. I really want root but im not sure about this WiFi issue I set the WiFi to turn off at sleep and it seems better also the issues are caused less im concerned what would you guys do? ive sent it off to Sony once already they said nothing was wrong with wifi. Can someone help me decide? Much appreciated, many thanks.

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