Related
I’m going to start this off by saying that this is not a review of the AT&T Tilt, the HTC Advantage, or the iPhone. These devices have been reviewed in depth already. This is more of a reflection on my use of the 3 devices mentioned. My primary phone is the AT&T Tilt, my wife uses the iPhone, and I bought a HTC Advantage 2 week ago.
I wanted to see if the Advantage would augment or even replace my laptop and Tilt, like a true convergence device. I mentioned the iPhone because my wife has one, and so I have access to the use of it along with the 2 other HTC devices.
All of the devices mentioned are box stock so to speak. They are locked to AT&T with the exception of the Advantage, which as you know can work on any GSM network, but for me it is used on AT&T’s network.
I was able to use all 3 while on a week’s Christmas vacation trip to Minnesota (I live in Jacksonville, FL.) to see my parents. I transitioned to the Advantage one week prior to leaving to get used to it. It worked as expected, sync’s to my laptop with Vista and Mobile Device Center no problem, as does my Tilt. Connected to AT&T’s network no problem. I was always able to get my e-mails and made and received calls on it, and Bluetooth worked flawlessly. I paired my Jawbone with no problems. The only software problem I encountered with it so far has been with Windows live services. It would fail to sync completely, signing out and then back in repeatedly. I have had zero lock ups and have not had to reset it yet. The GPS worked without a hitch and was able to use it with both Google maps and Live search to navigate. The only problem I can find to fault this device with is the size and weight, but I knew that when I got it. It is not designed to be carried around with you all day. I found myself leaving it in the car or on the desk and checking it throughout the day. I did carry it with me while walking around the Mall of America in Minneapolis. Throughout the whole trip I had excellent network coverage and the high speed 3g worked everywhere I was at. All and all the Advantage did everything it was advertised to do.
While at my parent’s house in Rochester, I also used my Tilt. Once again it worked as it has always been working. The only problem I have with my Tilt is it has a tendency to drop calls while using the Bluetooth headset (Jawbone). This has happened several times and I have read here on these forums that I am not alone with this problem.
To be honest, after using both devices I think the Advantage is at a slight disadvantage. Now, I realize they are meant for two entirely different types of users. I can do everything I need to do on the Tilt. The Advantage can do everything the Tilt can do, and has way more storage. The size, weight, and portability are just too much to work around for me. I must say though, that looking at that nice big VGA screen on the Advantage will spoil you.
I am more than happy with the performance of both devices, as well as the other HTC devices I have used in the past. (AT&T 8525)
Here’s the other point I wanted to make, and why I have mentioned the iPhone. I pay all my bills online, so I needed to be able to log on to my bank as well as other creditors to make payments. Of the 8 online bill paying websites I needed to access, I was only able to complete 3 of the tasks. The websites would not render correctly no matter what changes to the display I made. As a note I use a program called PIE+ by Rensoft, and it works great on my Tilt and the Advantage. I was able to log on and complete the other 5 transactions with the wife’s iPhone, in the Safari browser no problem what so ever. That’s the only thing I like about the iPhone, and it is not enough of a reason to switch to one, she likes that phone and it’s nice, but I prefer the functionality of windows mobile.
I would like to add that I am not a noob, nor am I an expert at using WM6; I learn new stuff about it every day on this site. I thought it might be interesting for someone to read about my experience with these 3 devices, and how they were used in my everyday life.
In conclusion, I would say that for me, the choice clear. I will stay with my Tilt, and possibly find a new home for the Advantage. I don’t know though, it’s like a guilty pleasure to use the Advantage.
One more thing I just thought of, maybe a HTC Shift is what I need.
Anyway thanks for reading.
My week with my advantage
It all started on christmas eve, i bought my advantage off someone on these forums, who got conned into buying an ameo with a blocked imei. Im 17 so i hardly ever call, and when i do its when im out with my K800i. It has been like this since i got my hermes in June. And texts work for me, so its a perfect buy, way cheaper then normal, and probably the best spec of a pda phone there is.
I got it out of the box, and i was actually surprised by the size. I thought it would be bigger, but its not really massive, seeing as i had a hermes. Its probably the same depth as a hermes, and width is about double the hermes, and height is id say about 1cm shorter then the hermes length. And, most importantly, it fits into my school blazer pocket perfectly, so no belt clip.
Straight away, i downloaded the latest athena project rom. I was surprised by the amount of apps cooked in, coming rom hermes where every rom is stripped bare, because of the half size rom.
I fired it up, played around a bit, but i found that even with double the ram, and more then 50% extra processing power, it was the same speed. But thinking about it, this is probably because it has to render double the number of pixels.
I downloaded google maps, tried to get a gps fix, and so far ive been able to get a fix in my house fdrom my bedroom window [5 satellites] and the living room window [3 satellites] i havent been able to when ive been in a car. I got tomtom for it, and the success has been the same. But quick gps does i think speed up getting a fix, but it may just be psychological.
The best app on the rom is id say real vga. The icon are massive on 192 dpi, and when i changed to 96 dpi, at first it was tiny, but now im used to it. Another massive plus is snapvue. The calendar is great and the viewing od new sms at the bottom is excellent. Then only thing wrong with it so far is that the clock never syncs fast. its always approx 10 secs after the normal clock. And, when i turn it on in the morning, it shows the time it was turned off at at night. And by turn off, i mean like screen off, not power down.
Yesterday, i had some trouble with it, when i turned the screen off, it wouldnt turn back on, i had to soft-reset. it did this twice in a row. but since then it hasnt done it.
That is the only problem so far [touch wood] that has caused a soft reset.
Wisbar advance desktop wouldnt work, but now i worked out that 96 dpi is just like qvga? lol. so my old hermes WA2 and WAD themes will work.
Thanks for reading, and i liked your "review" cib911.
x
cib911 - After getting a good case for my Athena (Tough-as-Nuts; it has the same quality as a good holster), I don't even notice its on my belt most of the time. I even have moments where I think I've lost it and reach down to make sure its still there. When I had some cheaper cases in the beginning it was a drag, literally. Especially one that had a swivel belt clip which held it so far from the belt it had leverage to twist the belt outward with each step. But the good case makes it an easy carry-everyday item now.
Hey cib911, I'm gonna assume you flew. Did you use the Advantage on the flight, around 3hours would be my guess. How was the battery life and what were you using it for? music? Movies? Work?
I've been considering one to add to my TyTn / Fujitsu p1510 stable.
thanks
cib911 said:
I’m going to start this off by saying that this is not a review of the AT&T Tilt, the HTC Advantage, or the iPhone. These devices have been reviewed in depth already. This is more of a reflection on my use of the 3 devices mentioned. My primary phone is the AT&T Tilt, my wife uses the iPhone, and I bought a HTC Advantage 2 week ago.
I wanted to see if the Advantage would augment or even replace my laptop and Tilt, like a true convergence device. I mentioned the iPhone because my wife has one, and so I have access to the use of it along with the 2 other HTC devices.
All of the devices mentioned are box stock so to speak. They are locked to AT&T with the exception of the Advantage, which as you know can work on any GSM network, but for me it is used on AT&T’s network.
I was able to use all 3 while on a week’s Christmas vacation trip to Minnesota (I live in Jacksonville, FL.) to see my parents. I transitioned to the Advantage one week prior to leaving to get used to it. It worked as expected, sync’s to my laptop with Vista and Mobile Device Center no problem, as does my Tilt. Connected to AT&T’s network no problem. I was always able to get my e-mails and made and received calls on it, and Bluetooth worked flawlessly. I paired my Jawbone with no problems. The only software problem I encountered with it so far has been with Windows live services. It would fail to sync completely, signing out and then back in repeatedly. I have had zero lock ups and have not had to reset it yet. The GPS worked without a hitch and was able to use it with both Google maps and Live search to navigate. The only problem I can find to fault this device with is the size and weight, but I knew that when I got it. It is not designed to be carried around with you all day. I found myself leaving it in the car or on the desk and checking it throughout the day. I did carry it with me while walking around the Mall of America in Minneapolis. Throughout the whole trip I had excellent network coverage and the high speed 3g worked everywhere I was at. All and all the Advantage did everything it was advertised to do.
While at my parent’s house in Rochester, I also used my Tilt. Once again it worked as it has always been working. The only problem I have with my Tilt is it has a tendency to drop calls while using the Bluetooth headset (Jawbone). This has happened several times and I have read here on these forums that I am not alone with this problem.
To be honest, after using both devices I think the Advantage is at a slight disadvantage. Now, I realize they are meant for two entirely different types of users. I can do everything I need to do on the Tilt. The Advantage can do everything the Tilt can do, and has way more storage. The size, weight, and portability are just too much to work around for me. I must say though, that looking at that nice big VGA screen on the Advantage will spoil you.
I am more than happy with the performance of both devices, as well as the other HTC devices I have used in the past. (AT&T 8525)
Here’s the other point I wanted to make, and why I have mentioned the iPhone. I pay all my bills online, so I needed to be able to log on to my bank as well as other creditors to make payments. Of the 8 online bill paying websites I needed to access, I was only able to complete 3 of the tasks. The websites would not render correctly no matter what changes to the display I made. As a note I use a program called PIE+ by Rensoft, and it works great on my Tilt and the Advantage. I was able to log on and complete the other 5 transactions with the wife’s iPhone, in the Safari browser no problem what so ever. That’s the only thing I like about the iPhone, and it is not enough of a reason to switch to one, she likes that phone and it’s nice, but I prefer the functionality of windows mobile.
I would like to add that I am not a noob, nor am I an expert at using WM6; I learn new stuff about it every day on this site. I thought it might be interesting for someone to read about my experience with these 3 devices, and how they were used in my everyday life.
In conclusion, I would say that for me, the choice clear. I will stay with my Tilt, and possibly find a new home for the Advantage. I don’t know though, it’s like a guilty pleasure to use the Advantage.
One more thing I just thought of, maybe a HTC Shift is what I need.
Anyway thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would try opera. it works on all the sites i do online payments on. i would also try my rom. u'll be spoiled by it and with hardspl u can always return to stock if needed for warrenty.
what i would do is loose the keyboard like i did because of the teksoft fingertouch keyboard included in my rom and use the qwerty layout which is layout 1(ull see on the bottom left hand corner a red square with number. thats used to change layout).
without the keyboard the athena is now close to moto razr thin. but as wide as about 2 razrs side by side.
coming from a hermes i do not have a problem with the size. it fits into my jeans pockets and i love the power of the device. with my rom the device just flies. i can throw everything at it and do anything i want with it.
rorydaredkign said:
It all started on christmas eve, i bought my advantage off someone on these forums, who got conned into buying an ameo with a blocked imei. Im 17 so i hardly ever call, and when i do its when im out with my K800i. It has been like this since i got my hermes in June. And texts work for me, so its a perfect buy, way cheaper then normal, and probably the best spec of a pda phone there is.
I got it out of the box, and i was actually surprised by the size. I thought it would be bigger, but its not really massive, seeing as i had a hermes. Its probably the same depth as a hermes, and width is about double the hermes, and height is id say about 1cm shorter then the hermes length. And, most importantly, it fits into my school blazer pocket perfectly, so no belt clip.
Straight away, i downloaded the latest athena project rom. I was surprised by the amount of apps cooked in, coming rom hermes where every rom is stripped bare, because of the half size rom.
I fired it up, played around a bit, but i found that even with double the ram, and more then 50% extra processing power, it was the same speed. But thinking about it, this is probably because it has to render double the number of pixels.
I downloaded google maps, tried to get a gps fix, and so far ive been able to get a fix in my house fdrom my bedroom window [5 satellites] and the living room window [3 satellites] i havent been able to when ive been in a car. I got tomtom for it, and the success has been the same. But quick gps does i think speed up getting a fix, but it may just be psychological.
The best app on the rom is id say real vga. The icon are massive on 192 dpi, and when i changed to 96 dpi, at first it was tiny, but now im used to it. Another massive plus is snapvue. The calendar is great and the viewing od new sms at the bottom is excellent. Then only thing wrong with it so far is that the clock never syncs fast. its always approx 10 secs after the normal clock. And, when i turn it on in the morning, it shows the time it was turned off at at night. And by turn off, i mean like screen off, not power down.
Yesterday, i had some trouble with it, when i turned the screen off, it wouldnt turn back on, i had to soft-reset. it did this twice in a row. but since then it hasnt done it.
That is the only problem so far [touch wood] that has caused a soft reset.
Wisbar advance desktop wouldnt work, but now i worked out that 96 dpi is just like qvga? lol. so my old hermes WA2 and WAD themes will work.
Thanks for reading, and i liked your "review" cib911.
x
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
quick gps is ment to speed up the time for a lock so it isnt ur imagination. i am glad u love my rom and ur device. only comment i have is with the gps i actually get as good signal in my car as out of it.
i use the htc branded case and it sits in between the dashboard and front windshield of my car. it doesnt move around bc of the design of my car and the device with case. it is pretty much stuck in there and wont move no matter what i do with the car yet i can still remove it by hand from that spot.
Hey cib911, I'm gonna assume you flew. Did you use the Advantage on the flight, around 3hours would be my guess. How was the battery life and what were you using it for? music? Movies? Work?
I've been considering one to add to my TyTn / Fujitsu p1510 stable.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I did use it on the flight. 1 hour to ATL. and 2 hours to MSP. The battery held up fine. I haven't put any music or movies on it yet, but played some games. I use it more for e-mail and as a lap top replacement.
i would try opera. it works on all the sites i do online payments on. i would also try my rom. u'll be spoiled by it and with hardspl u can always return to stock if needed for warrenty.
what i would do is loose the keyboard like i did because of the teksoft fingertouch keyboard included in my rom and use the qwerty layout which is layout 1(ull see on the bottom left hand corner a red square with number. thats used to change layout).
without the keyboard the athena is now close to moto razr thin. but as wide as about 2 razrs side by side.
coming from a hermes i do not have a problem with the size. it fits into my jeans pockets and i love the power of the device. with my rom the device just flies. i can throw everything at it and do anything i want with it.
Today 06:27 PM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you mentioned your ROM, I haven't had to courage to try it yet. Don't want to brick it, plus I'm still adding cabs and configuring it. I am thinking about flashing it now though.
cib911 said:
Glad you mentioned your ROM, I haven't had to courage to try it yet. Don't want to brick it, plus I'm still adding cabs and configuring it. I am thinking about flashing it now though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just do it, unlock with Olipro's unlocker (best do all 3 steps) then flash the ROM - you won't regret it and it's almost impossible to brick your device.
Confucious said:
Just do it, unlock with Olipro's unlocker (best do all 3 steps) then flash the ROM - you won't regret it and it's almost impossible to brick your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
olipro is right: his ROM makes a world of difference to the usability of the athena. its a great device but in the end the size just got too much for me. there were also one or two disappointments for me. im an internet addict and found that neither opera nor pie did full enough job for me. i also thought video playback was less than acceptible, with lipsync gradually worsening throughout many films and general playback quality a bit hit and miss. it was possible to convert movies to a format that worked well but this was too much of a trial for me. perhaps i expected too much of the athena's raw power but try copying a video recorded on an N95 (330mhz ARM proocessor) onto the microdrive and playing it with tcpmp or coreplayer and you'll see that the athena was clearly never designed to play movies. this rendered the 8gb of storage a little redundant for me, and it remained pretty empty.
taking its relative spec into account i never thought the device showed itself any more nippy than the hermes. web pages for example rendered around the same speed on both devices, but i get the feeling that's a fault with windows mobile as a whole and not the athena.
overall i loved texting on the athena. there's something about the feel of it (minus the silly keyboard) that i grew fond of, and theres an abundance of really great apps out there, but in the end it never fulfilled my expectations and i felt obliged to sell it before its value depleted further.
if the size doesnt bother you and you're not too bothered about watching movies you'll definitely be sold when you try black touch though. its great, and no doubt it's helped HTC a lot as the stock ROMs are crap. without black touch i would have sold my athena months ago.
I am still on my 14 day return and have been thinking about this. Android biggest problem is something new is always right around the corner. I think a lot of you are here cause the Asus was unavailable and may still be waiting on that.
So are you keeping it.
Did it surprise you enough to stay with it.
Is the upcoming Samsung Galazy Tab 10.1 or the burning desire to have the Transformer gonna make you take it back.
Maybe the Toshiba Tab with it's built in USB might persuade you.
Sticking. Stuck.
I bought the Acer because the ASUS wasn't available, but I'm quite happy with it anyway. As you said, there's always something new around the corner, but what I've seen about the Toshiba models put them in the Xoom price range, and I haven't seen pricing on the Samsung 8.9 and 10.1 (new thin models, not the 10.1V original design.)
Honeycomb in general's still a very new system, and I expect by this time next year most of the things we're looking at as "missing" or "broken" will be available and/or fixed. Kinda the way I'm still using my (original generation) Droid phone, which, when overclocked and ROMd over to Gingerbread is just fine
Actually...
I figured that I'd get it to play with Honeycomb and wait for some of the vaporware tablets to emerge. I had bought a Xoom but it was a real POS - nothing worked including the falsely advertised charging dock, etc. So I returned it.
Now I'm absolutely keeping the Iconia - I have a rooted Nook Color - very nice but not in the same league as the Iconia.
Don't believe all the BS put out about how bad the screen is, or other stuff.
I rooted it (easiest root I have ever done) and everything works as advertiszed.
I still got until Monday wiki decide Saturday if I will return or not to get the transfoemer, tegra 3 tablets are also coming out in august
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App
Got both the Asus and the iconia and will keep the iconia ..
The Asus just feels so cheaply made that no amount of screen quality can make up for it feeling like a cheap toy in my hands.
I can understand the whole IPS vs standard screen debate as i have owned many great screens over the years including IPS desktop screens and iPads etc etc .
They both have there pros and there cons but a good screen and good build quality are more important to me and the whole USB host thing built in without the need for a dock or separate accessory is just great.
Will never need a keyboard attached to it either and i think thats what really pushed me over the edge to keep the Acer.
Not slamming on the Asus btw because its decent in other areas but after getting 2 with some nasty light bleed on top of questionable build quality the Acer just took the crown for overall winner .
I am keeping mine. I actually had a Xoom first and took it back...thought it was too expensive for what it was. I actually really like the Acer better. I love the USB port, the micro card slot actually works ( didn't on xoom as of yet), It feels a lot lighter and I actually like the bezel being larger as it is easier to hold without hitting the screen. The viewing angle is good (not sure why bad comments on that). I like it a lot.
Keeping. Was waiting on the Asus, but i'm more than happy with the screen of the Acer, absolutely love the usb port, and since removing the phone apks, I have no complaints about battery life. I'm happy.
Right before I got the Acer I had purchased a used Galaxy Tab 7" thinking that would satisfy me.
Then I saw the Acer. Once I touched it I fell instantly in love and fought myself not to give into temptation everyday. Suddenly it hit me... I have a Bestbuy card and it means I can take 18 months to pay for it without a dime of interest.
1/2 hour later I had the Iconia in my sweaty hands.
Sure the wife *****ed but hey, it's only a new toy once.
For me it's a keeper. Like others have said, the USB port is a big factor and I see nothing wrong with the screen.
Keepin'. I am surprised how much I enjoy the Acer iconia Tab. The USB port makes all the difference. I think the build quality is very nice indeed and I really like the design. Root doesn't hurt either.
I was an early adopter of the Linux Eee Pcs and thought they were very solid little machines, but later models had some serious build quality issues. So the Eee Transformer quality/build problems I have read about do not surprise me one bit. . . .
Also have the Galaxy Tab 7" and a Nook Color. Not sure which one of those I'm sticking with though. I like them both but I leaning toward the Nook and selling the Galaxy Tab on Ebay.
Keeping for sure
I will be taking mine back, but only cause I will be waiting for Samsung galaxy tab 10.1. The weight of the Acer is an issue for me, but can understand why it is. Feels very sturdy. I absolutely love the USB port & sdcard working out of the box. So testing the Acer gave me a few things to think about far as what I want in a tablet. I know Galaxy tab 10.1 will not have USB port. Not sure how Toshiba's will feel.
I definitely recommend people to try the Acer
Also the corners of acer are kind of pointy if holding for awhile.
def keeping mine. I don't know why the Asus got so much media and Acer didnt
I'm still on the fence. I'm coming from daily use of a convertible Fujitsu with stylus and have wanted something this light for a while and miss not having a stylus for normal handwriting.
There are also some things I may not be able to live without which require Window$ but I'm going to give it another week and see if I can see a way to fit it into my normal working life.
If there weren't things that were broken out of the box (gps, compass) I'd probably be leaning more towards keeping at this point
Took a day or two to work out a couple of bugs, but now my A500 is rock solid, smoking fast, amazing battery life. I'm 100% satisfied. This should be fine for me until a Tegra 4 comes out in 2012...
The only thing I am waiting for is a new kernel so I can see what this baby will do when it is overclocked.
bhageman said:
Took a day or two to work out a couple of bugs, but now my A500 is rock solid, smoking fast, amazing battery life. I'm 100% satisfied. This should be fine for me until a Tegra 4 comes out in 2012...
The only thing I am waiting for is a new kernel so I can see what this baby will do when it is overclocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any tips tricks as to what you did to fix / customize?
nubbin77 said:
Any tips tricks as to what you did to fix / customize?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Immediately did a factory reset. Eliminated problem with screen coming back on after screen time out and an odd problem I had with my screen timeout being stuck at 15 seconds.
-Rooted with GingerBreak (make sure you lock in portrait during process)
-WPA supplicant
-changed phone.apk and telephony___.apk to .bak to kill the phone processes. Mad a HUGE improvement in an already satisfactory battery life. WARNING: This will brick your phone if you do a factory reset without changing them back.
-Installed ADW for my home screen
-Installed SyncSMS to get SMS functionality
Apps that help:
-GingerBreak
-Root Explorer
-Terminal Emulator
-Uninstaller for Root
-Super Manager
-ES File
Apps I love:
-PlayOn: Streaming TV from my NAS drive
-SugarSync: All my work docs in the cloud
-WinAmp: Sync music with my desktop over wifi
-Feedly: Google RSS feed looks like a magazine
-Chrome to Phone
Still on the edge
I like the screen and feel of it, but with Honeycomb there aren't many apps out there that run on it (without FC all the time).
I'm trying to justify keeping it for work, but there's no Activesync (without rooting), Calendar is a joke and other than playing movies/games on it what do YOU use it for?
I can't see dumping my laptop anytime soon, so my question is what are you using it for? Serious question.
Thanks
S
I wanted the EEE TF as well but got the Iconia in the interim. I'm pleasantly surprised. I don't want the TF anymore. After playing with a friends, I'm not convinced it's worthwhile to exchange them. It has a gorgeous display and is a tad lighter but I'm afraid I've been jaded by the really bad things I've read about it and am convinced the first batch was very shoddy. Unfortunately, by the time it's released there will be competitors with possibly better options (toshiba, samsung, sony, htc, etc.)
My goal is to get something I'm 100% happy with. I'm 98% happy with the Iconia.
What's in that 2%? Limited video file and format playing ability and bugs due to Honeycomb right now.
Otherwise, hell yeah! I'd have liked an IPS screen. This AUO screen isn't bad at all but it's no IPS, right? Acer could have at least pegged Samsung for PLS.
It's also in wrestling with the idea of having the faith in Acer to believe they really will update and fix these things in the near future. These companies aren't known for keeping their products updated beyond a certain period. I can easily see their promised June update becoming Samsung-esque and not seen for months if ever.
That being said, I've entertained the idea of returning it and waiting to see what I can get in June. But tech is tricky and if you decide to wait, you can easily end up waiting forever for the next best thing as it's always around the corner. If the competitors are too expensive, it's not like the A500 won't be there for me to fall back on, it may even be cheaper! Of course, just like a cell phone - once you own one of these things you come to depend on it rather quickly if you're used to doing things a certain way.
I use it for everything now. My notebook sits in it's bag most of the time.
It's awesome for multimedia, period.
I use it in the kitchen and around the house to play music and videos if I don't feel like sitting in front of the TV.
I use it in the kitchen to look up new and different things to cook.
I use it as a visual remote for my PC (to control music or manipulate downloads). I use it in the couch to look up stuff I see on TV.
I bring it with me EVERYWHERE, yes...I now own a manbag.
I use it on the road when I'm out with the wife and she's in Macys/JCPenny/Kohls or any of those places I don't feel like venturing with her into for hours.
I use it when I'm at the cafe or out at dinner. I don't have it out all the time, but it's with me in case I want to use it and I must say, it's nicer than flipping out a netbook which I guess is ironic but I always thought that was so odd looking. You know, when people pop their netbooks out on a table in the middle of 4 people being social. For me it's a matter of looking up something quick and then popping it back in.
The list goes on and on.
It's basically replaced my android phone in its smart abilities while managing to be more comfortable in that the screen is bigger. It's replaced my notebook in it's lighter tasks like multimedia due to it being ultimately way, way more portable and touchscreen.
My dilemma is living without it for 2 months while I wait for something that I'm hoping will satisfy me 99 or 100%, should I decide to return it. I still have a few days to decide.
kalric said:
Calendar is a joke
S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried Jorte?
I am planning to pick up KF but I am debating if 512MB RAM compare to 1GB (Nook Tablet) will be enough.
KF will be used for browsing internet, light gaming and web streaming (not movies). It will be rooted and replaced with custom ROM (ICS) eventually.
I owned Nook Color running CM7 nightly right now and trying to avoid having two look a like device.
Do you think 512MB will be sufficient for KF to operate smoothly?
It runs fine for me, doing pretty much the same as what you want to use it for.
I hit some lag once in a while, but overall, I do like it - so long as I do NOT keep comparing it to my wifes iPad.
Chris
I bought mine for web browsing, reading magazines and checking Facebook. So far, I am nothing less than pleased. It performs well, even when playing YouTube and Flash videos.
For the price, it's a winner, provided you don't expect it to perform like high-end Android devices or an iPad.
I bought both from Best Buy and used them for a little while before deciding which one to return. The difference in RAM was probably the biggest concern for me and the main reason I considered the Nook Tablet despite it costing $50 more.
In practice, I saw no difference in performance between the two. The only other big thing steering a lot of people toward the Nook is the microSD slot. If that isn't a concern then the Kindle Fire is fine. If you really want lots of local storage then the Nook is the only way to go.
Me, I listen to music through Pandora and I don't watch movies on the tablet, so local storage doesn't concern me. Thus I went with the cheaper Kindle Fire.
If you're wanting to do much outside of what comes with it and you're not too knowledgeable on how to fix things in unorthodox ways and think you'll be posting soon in the unbricking thread, I would find a more forgiving tablet to work with. The time you'll save on not having to fix things will offset any additional cost.
Disclaimer: I own 2 HP touchpads and no Kindle Fire.
Well I don't agree with yareally who has apparently not touched one yet.
I have 2, or more accurately, My wife has one and I have one.
Hers is stock... she loves it. Watches netflix, amazon prime and a number of books. works for her daily with no issues.
I got mine after I got her hers. Really didn't plan on getting one myself, however, I started playing with it and got the bug to see what it could do. $124 was too inexpensive to not.
Mine is rooted though I am still using the stock ROM as I am waiting for a proven recovery before trying something else. I am now using ADW, have the Android market, Google apps including Gmap and can even get GPS if i want to go to the trouble. etc... I use it a bit at work as well, Exchange email via Touchdown, Evernote, and lots of usable webapp browsing.
Like any device or smart phone, if you do dumb things, you get dumb results, but if you are careful and follow instructions well.. should be a fun device to play with.
krelvinaz said:
Well I don't agree with yareally who has apparently not touched one yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may not have touched one, but I've helped probably 70+ users with one directly to unbrick it and countless others that followed the guide I helped to start
Ironically, neither I or my friend that started the thread with me own a kindle fire, but it hasn't prevented us for knowing more about it than most.
I don't have to touch it to know how it works. I can do that quite well using adb shell remotely. Fancy user interfaces mean nothing. It's what is under the hood that matters.
Quite a few screwed it up installing cm7 as well.
Compared to other tablets, I have seen way more people screw their fire up without a way to get back out of it without spoon feeding directions to (including at times, going on teamviewer with them).
I think it is cool you have helped, especially that many people. Perhaps, the price point makes it too simple for people to dive in without bothering to understand what they are doing or reading the large red text warning them. (hence my comment about doing dumb things).
The lack of having a full recovery yet is perhaps also a stumbling block, but apparently that will be remedied soon.
krelvinaz said:
The lack of having a full recovery yet is perhaps also a stumbling block, but apparently that will be remedied soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I think once that happens, lots of the headaches will be a thing of the past as well.
Yeah, I think people bricking their Fire speaks more toward impatient people than any failings of the Fire. Anyone trying to install a custom rom at this point with anything other than above average skills needs to take a step back IMO.
Sent from my BAMForever Thunderbolt
The 512MB RAM has not been a limitation for anything I've done with it, and that's *with* all the Amazon crap running at the same time, I've not disabled any of the services.
I think the micro SD card on the Nook would be a nice addition, but not sure it's $50 nice, considering how easy it is to stream to the Fire. If you needed to store your movies locally maybe.
animez said:
Yeah, I think people bricking their Fire speaks more toward impatient people than any failings of the Fire. Anyone trying to install a custom rom at this point with anything other than above average skills needs to take a step back IMO.
Sent from my BAMForever Thunderbolt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm an above average user, and even I'm not crazy enough to mess with it too much right now! There are some amazing things going on in the Dev forum, and I really look forward to CM9 on my Fire.
I have 2 as well, and I'm more than happy with the speed/function even using stock kernel/ROM (albeit with a different launcher). The price point for this device was too hard to ignore. It's not in the same league as an iPad or Galaxy Tab, but I didn't buy it thinking it was.
Yeah with Go Launcher instead of that bookshelf, this is a superb bargain. Remember Amazon is basically selling these at cost to funnel people in to their store.
Thanks for the reply guys.
Only fools compare $199 KF to $499 Ipad.
Storage does not concern me, I just want a device that running smoothly for flash streaming and hackable
I have made up my mind, I am getting KF.
denoxster said:
I am planning to pick up KF but I am debating if 512MB RAM compare to 1GB (Nook Tablet) will be enough.
KF will be used for browsing internet, light gaming and web streaming (not movies). It will be rooted and replaced with custom ROM (ICS) eventually.
I owned Nook Color running CM7 nightly right now and trying to avoid having two look a like device.
Do you think 512MB will be sufficient for KF to operate smoothly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
512 appears to be just fine.
I'd recommend putting Dolphin HD on for browsing. I haven't had an issue with streaming video from Amazon, Netflix, Crackle or Epic. No problems with games, so far. Currently have over 100 apps installed.
I do use an app to control too many apps starting automatically (Startup Cleaner), as it seems to help performance.
Update:
After owning KF for a couple of month, I can tell you that I am pretty happy with my purchase.
Now my KF running CM9 ICS
Thank you guys.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire using xda premium
Go for it
i bought mine because of the price and i liked the way it looked, so far i have rooted it and it still runs perfectly. So far the only difference i see between this and the ipad is the size and the camera. Its pretty darn fast and when its rooted you can customize almost every aspect about it.
Ive had mine about a year and a half. I have the sprint varient but im runni.g the tmobile rom currently on straight talk and after all this time my phone is almost perfect the battery can go 3 to 6 days depending on use im heavily modded with xposed and quite a few other apps but all in all every now and then she gets a little slugish but nothing a reboot dont take care of im interested to know how everyone elses is doing still
I just got mine a few weeks ago so I'm not an "old timer" so to speak (although I am nearly 50 years old now), and I have to say this is the best smartphone I've ever owned - that coming from a guy that's owned cell phones since the first Motorola "brick" phones made their appearance in the early 1980s. I've owned dozens of PocketPCs, Palm Pilots, mobile devices of all kinds and at this moment, this G2 of mine clearly blows them all away in pretty much every single respect.
Only thing I wish this device had (aside from a microSD slot) would be pogo pins someplace on the frame for a nice dock. I'm one of those people that has - for decades now - hoped that someday we'll have a small portable device that can do multiple tasks for us on the go, and then when we're at home we can simply place it in a dock that will allow it to attach to a full size keyboard, mouse, display, audio outputs, etc.
Ubuntu had/has the right idea with the Ubuntu Phone concept, but they've already pooched it to death sadly. But even so, the concept of a device that's powerful enough to be functional as a "desktop PC" when you're at home and still be mobile enough to fit in your pocket... I'm still waiting.
This G2 gets Sunspider times with the stock browser (the one in CloudyG3 so I suppose it's technically the stock G3 browser, probably the same code anyway) that are nearly as fast as my aging Dell Latitude E6400 laptop these days. While this G2 can't completely replace a full actual laptop, obviously, the thought of being able to use this device for most of the stuff I actually do (emails, web browsing, chat/IM/SMS, music, movies, etc) is damned awesome and I'm practically using it more and more all the time.
Won't replace my laptop, obviously - I'm on the laptop at the moment 'cause I just can't stand using forums on a smartphone, just doesn't mesh well with how I do things.
But I do love this G2, and I intend to have it for some time, with CloudyG3 on it and the Dorimanx kernel I've been having full day usage without breaking a sweat, no problems. Kinda makes me wish I had a G3 now because it's got a microSD slot (really need one of those personally) and a removable battery as well (something I REALLY prefer on a smartphone).
So I'm a happy camper, definitely.
I've been wondering.
Who's still using this Tablet?
The N8000 Samsung Galaxy Note 10" has been released in August 2012, this is 4 Years ago.
Most smartphones have a lifespan of 2 years. There are a lot of people who buy a new one every year. Yet there are some others who keep their phone for 3-4 years or even Longer.
So how about this Tablet?
Do you still use it like on the first day you bought it?
Does it fulfill a different usage now?
Or did you give it away to someone else?
For me I've bought this Tablet when I started studying because I thought the Pen input would be pretty cool.
I've used it for about 3-4 months and then Switched to a Windows 2:1 convertible. After that I've mainly used it at home for media consumption.
Right now I use it with lirokas Marshmallow Build and mostly stream Videos. I still get 6-8h batterylife out of it, and while I fully agree that the processor is getting really slow I don't see no reason at all to upgrade to a new tablet.
So what's your story?
Haldi4803 said:
I've been wondering.
Who's still using this Tablet?
Yes thank you .
Do you still use it like on the first day you bought it?
Yes .
Not used as a phone and only ever bought for mapping and media / tv player .
No notice of cpu slow and until it stops working its a keeper .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gave mine to my laddie when I bought my Note Pro 12 ; he uses it daily (Temasek's cm13). It's still as brilliant as the day I got it.
Hi,
I bought this tablet in November 2013 and I used it daily during about one year, mainly for a video, games and web usage, until I was fed up with the lack of support from Samsung that made this tablet completely outdated.
I completely rediscovered it in last January, when I decided to put it out of the drawer where it stood in order to try to root it and to flash Lirokoa's ROM that I had heard of on this great forum. Since then I use it again daily both at home and for work with a bluetooth keyboard, this awsome ROM just gave this tablet a second life
Sent from my GT-N8013 using XDA-Developers mobile app
My girlfriend has/had one that she used daily. For quite some time. I personally felt it was rediculously unresponsive and slow..but this made some sense given she has the thing JAMMED FULL of free app games and wallpaper apps. Early in its life. I attempted to get her to let me root it to make it run good..no go. Last week however her most.favorite game, Sims FreePlay. Wouldnt load..crashed 90% of the time before you could play it.
So she handed it to me to see if I could fix the issue. I want able to make it happen. In the process if attempting. I Deleted a bunch of undeniably trashable apps l, app data, and/or cache. Both the system and user areas were Extremely full.
After doing that l it was yet oddly slugish..yet faster than when she handed it to me. I gave it back to her..in working condition. and she messages me at work the next day Asking me WTF DID YOU DO TO MY TABLET. It was suck boot loop at samsung logo. (Keep in mind this tab is %100 stock) Recovery wont load, Download mode works but flashing anything and/or everything simply either completes sucessfully per odin..yet doesnt help. or fails(formatting pit stuff).
After spending a whole week scavanging the internet. I determined the emmc is borked. Probably similar to the S3 SDS problem. Tried absolutely everything suggested and still wound up in the "didnt work for me" catagory. I tentetively have determined I basically have a hard bricked tab that probably even Jtag wouldnt fix..aside PERHAPS..from re/-flashing the emmc firmware with a jtag...that I don't own.lol.
replacment motherboards still run over $100, which isnt viable imo because I can buy a fuly funtional used tab for alunder $150..and a few bucks more..could potentially get a tab 10.1 2014 if Iil I was patient.
I feel bad. she believes me NOW for the most part that it didnt directly die due to what I did to it. More it died WHILE i was wokring on it due to a bugged or defective internal Memory chip.
I'm probably going to buy her a replacment tab..because she misses it. Maybe steal the motherboard from the replacment and put it in "hers" l. Then when I feel froggy try to replace the emmc and use the tab for my own purposes.
If you do a lot photo editing,adjusting, alterting. PS Touch with and S-pen @10.1" is fantasticly the best photo editing setup I've ever used...thats my proposed best Use for it
I bought mine a year ago, as a replacement for my ASUS tablet. I used it mostly for gaming and video streaming, which has better performance than at least my previous tablet. Months later I found out how to flash TWRP into it and flash a CyanogenMod ROM into it, which inspired me to learn more about modding android devices.
But that was before I accidentally dropped it on a carpet floor and gave it an LCD color issue and a distortion problem.
So I had to buy another one, which was the 2014 model. Not as proud as I was with my old one though.
I still use it, but I have to use a separate program to remotely see what the heck I am looking at without straining my eyes. The only thing I use it for now is modding and ROM building, which I am learning about.
It was an amazing experience with this one.
I bought it when it came out.
Daily use as a TV viewer propped up on a bookstand in the kitchen and for casting music to the hifi. It's still well overspecced on the hardware front for humble uses like this.
The screen is not as good as a newer Tabs (I have a Tab S2 myself) but for highly compressed 'TV over wifi', and considering I'm watching from quite a few feet away, it makes little difference.
I hardly ever used the stylus bit of it, unlike my Note 4 which still has very frequent stylus use for making jottings at work when walking around a job with a customer. I use MS OneNote for this purpose. Never got on with S-Note.
I've had mine for about 4 years. Recently rediscovered to watch some Netflix.
Now I am trying to figure out how to get it to 4.4 at least. (For PlayStation Vue)
I have a Verizon version stuck at 4.1.2
Seems like I've hit a brick wall in trying to load recovery and then Cyanogenmod.
Got root with KingRoot and that's all I can figure out so far.
I still use mine, bought it Oct 2012! Been on many travels with me and only recently started having problems with the WiFi.
Bought mine off eBay. Rooted and installed gnabo rom , works a treat for everything I need it for; surfing, email, games, video, documents. Hell I can even read my old Spider-Man comics on it. Upgrading to the new models is great if you can afford it or "need" to, but this old tablet does everything I need and barring accidents I can't see the value in upgrading it. I personally don't need the newest things. This tablet, with a little knowhow is upgradeable anyway with ROMs up to marshmallow available on this very site.
i still use this,,,4-core cpu is still powerfull for watching movies and using netflix....
Still using mine. Been operating slow though. Any updated Roms for us to use?
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk
Yeah, i still use(d) it, i just finished studying. I got it 3.5 years ago and used it several hours daily. With LectureNotes, i wrote 1500+ pages. I rooted it after one month of usage, i just couldn't stand the Samsung overlay.
Today my girlfriend told me, she wants to have a tablet when she goes to school again - immediately told her, she'll get mine. Now i either install an old ROM i had great experiences with or a new one and hope for the best... I tried to use it for media, but i'm just not the guy for it. I prefer just to use my smartphone instead of grabbing a tablet first. However, in about a month i'll get another tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab E), as you almost get it for free if you buy an S7, which is what i will do.
It still remains the only android device i NEVER had any problems with, apart from a bit of dust under the screen.
I'm still happy with mine although am dealing with a rapidly draining battery now and am looking for a recommendation for a vendor. Currently dealing with one that has send a second battery and it has issues... am not in the mood to swap it out again.
Yes, I do
I´m also using it every day since beginning.
Having Gnabo latest version running.
No big issues so far.
Battery runs good, depending on usage but sometimes 2 days
Yup, bought mine used, liked it so much, I bought another one for my wife refurbished!
Used to use it exclusively for taking notes in class, but since I've been out of school, it's our kitchen table TV (cut the cord, we do YouTube & SlingTV).
The other one is usually in storage, finds use when we go on trips, we both have tablets for movies, shows, etc.
liroka's CM13 builds are rock solid & he still updates builds! Makes this old sucker lightning fast. I don't foresee buying a new tablet, partially because I don't really have an extensive use for one, but mainly because this one works great!
Yes, I still use it... just updated to cm13
I might have updated to another tablet before now, but it's a great model and does 95% of what I need, so very hard to justify paying another £400+ for something else.
I bought one of these when my Acer Iconia A500 suddenly died one day. I bought mine new in Dec 2013 and use it for whatever I need to do (browsing, email, shopping, reading news, etc.) when I want a larger screen than my smartphone. I rooted it in January 2014 using a thread on Android Forums, and it is still currently in that state, also using TWRP 2.6.3.0. Although it works fine, I happened across your thread because I came here wondering what ROMs might have been made for this tablet, just to try something different for a change. I see mention of "liroka's CM13" in previous posts. If I wanted to try that, could I just install that ROM using the stock firmware and from the stock rooted state it is in now, or would I need to update something first?
Update the TWRP with the one provided in the CM13 Thread.
Yes, I still use it everyday for browsing, reading and mostly music related tools like MobileSheetsPro and iRealPro.
A couple of years ago I removed the Samsung bloat and installed Omni (KitKat 4.4.4). I'm still happy with it, it does everything I want/need, has a good battery life, etc.
One of these days I'm going to give it to my wife, who is disabled and has an iPad. Due to some of her disabilities she cannot work with iPad.
So actually this very moment I'm looking for a good replacement. I like the size and the pen -- suggestions anyone?