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Well, after a lot of consideration I decided to "take the risk" and just placed an order for a 64GB Pixel C and keyboard. Google Canada had a promo going with a $150 discount so I took it. Years ago I used to be a fervent Android phone and tablet user and I said I would never go to Apple. I had Nexus this and that for many years and a Moto 360 and an Android settop box. Eventually I got sucked into the whole Apple ecosystem, first with my Macbook for work, and now I have two Macbooks at work, plus an iPhone, iPad (Pro), Apple Watch, iMac, and Apple TV and I must admit I love them all especially the way things (mostly) handoff across any device such as phone calls.
Despite all this I am still curious about the latest in the Android world and love the idea of the Pixel C hardware and am glad I can get access to the latest OS without waiting on some OEM like Samsung. I use my iPad Pro (12.9) with the Smart Keyboard a lot (and yes the Apple Pencil for annotating music and docs) and love the versatility it provides and yeah I use split screen and video in a pop-out window a lot so it will be interesting to compare Nougat on the Pixel C.
I bought a Nexus 10 as soon as they released, just over 4 years ago. I used it extensively for the 1st year, and then afterwards, only a bit here and there. I actually currently have it running a Nougat ROM, but it is quite sluggish nowadays... but for being 4 years old, I can't complain. It was a great device and I certainly got my money's worth, as it's probably the device I have kept and used the longest out of all my electronics.
I just bought a Pixel C on Swappa today as it seemed like the only suitable replacement in terms of build quality, software, and updates. I decided I wouldn't be picking up the keyboard as I didn't see much use for it since I bought the expensive Logitech K810 bluetooth keyboard a long time ago for the Nexus 10. I'm hopeful it's as fast as my Pixel XL in terms of usability, and lasts me another 4 years.
Mine just came today! Loving it.
The power button was frozen and hardly worked. I was initially bummed after having a N9 with horrible unraised buttons. But the PCs power button loosened up and now works fine.
The screen is incredible. I work in Hi Res imagery all day and have a Moto X Pure with it's 5.7" quad HD display and 520 ppi pixel density, I was initially worried I would not like the Pixel C's screen. Especially going back and forth at a glance between screens. But the screen is amazing. All the power and speed I need and being an easy rootable Google devices, that has gotten quick updates and I was sold.
Very happy with my choice. Unlocking and rooting it as we speak.
I can't wait to use DSLR Controller app with my Canon 5DS and use the pixel C as a live view camera screen. My N10 and N9 were nice but this Pixel C is incredible.
So I just got my Pixel C and keyboard today and got it all updated and setup. Initial thoughts:
Hardware, specifically the the combination of the tablet and the keyboard, sure is nice.
Sucks not having a fingerprint reader.
Tried the multiwindow thing using Taskbar. A bit klugey but definitely promising. Unfortunately mostly unusable for me as a number of the critical apps I use (including Google Inbox) refuse to do multiwindow even with the "force resizing" developer setting enabled. I'd really like to see this working for real. At least the split screen is pretty usable although a pity no popout video windows like on iOS.
It's pretty snappy but still no match for my iPad Pro in general response. Feels a bit sluggish by comparison.
I expect the main use case for me will be as smaller alternative to my iPad Pro 12.9 and for carrying around the office for Google Docs, Slack, e-mail, and Hangouts, where we use Google apps for most things.
Since this is a Google device I look forward to some reasonable life out of with many more OS updates to come.
Just wanted to add that I was wrong about some apps not working on forced floating window mode using Taskbar. I clearly had launched some of these full-screen previously and that's why they continued to launch full-screen. I've been using Nova but will try just using Taskbar for a while. In general though I'm finding the split-screen mode pretty usable and especially handy with the keyboard shortcuts to get to things I often use like the browser, calendar, etc. I I only wish these shortcuts were customizable. For example, I don't use Gmail for my work e-mail but use Inbox instead but the keyboard shortcut will only launch Gmail.
Update: Floating windows using Taskbar is still a bit unpredictable so it's back to Nova and split-screen when needed. Remix doesn't really look like it's worth trying. It would be great if Google could really get floating windows (including video) baked into a future release.
One of the few things I can't do with my Pixel C around the office, compared to my Macbook, is screenshare in a Hangout. Unfortunately Hangouts on Android doesn't support any kind of screenshare even from Google Docs which is a shame.
Omniswitch recents on Dirty Unicorn's 7.1.1 01-06-17 build for the Pixel C, really adds another dimension for multitasking. DU runs well and is definitely a daily driver.
It's finny to come across this thread today. I too had a Nexus 10 that just died. The ribbons that connected on the back of the battery broke.
I decided to pick up a Pixel C but in the process I was told of another alternative. The Lenovo Yoga Book.
I've had my Pixel C for about a week now and it is a great device. An excellent replacement for the Nexus 10. However, I'm hearing greater things about the Lenovo, so much so that I may end up returning the Pixel in favor of keeping the Yoga Book.
Yes, the Yoga Book doesn't have the same powerful CPU/GPU as the Pixel C nor does it have the brand behind it. But the keyboard/drawing/writing board that comes with it is fantastic apparently. It also has a microSD slot, Dolby Digital audio, a miniHDMI port (shame on you Google for not including this in the Pixel), considerably better Wifi, and a SIM card option. The Pixel C has none of these things.
It's supposed to be in the mail tomorrow so I'll have a rare opportunity to compare both tablets while in my possession. Perhaps I'll make a video about it. The least I can do is post back here about my findings.
Skullpuck said:
It's finny to come across this thread today. I too had a Nexus 10 that just died. The ribbons that connected on the back of the battery broke.
I decided to pick up a Pixel C but in the process I was told of another alternative. The Lenovo Yoga Book.
I've had my Pixel C for about a week now and it is a great device. An excellent replacement for the Nexus 10. However, I'm hearing greater things about the Lenovo, so much so that I may end up returning the Pixel in favor of keeping the Yoga Book.
Yes, the Yoga Book doesn't have the same powerful CPU/GPU as the Pixel C nor does it have the brand behind it. But the keyboard/drawing/writing board that comes with it is fantastic apparently. It also has a microSD slot, Dolby Digital audio, a miniHDMI port (shame on you Google for not including this in the Pixel), considerably better Wifi, and a SIM card option. The Pixel C has none of these things.
It's supposed to be in the mail tomorrow so I'll have a rare opportunity to compare both tablets while in my possession. Perhaps I'll make a video about it. The least I can do is post back here about my findings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also very curious about the yoga book. Please post your comparisons.
So I've had the Yoga Book for about a day and have come to some conclusions about both devices. Generally speaking, the Pixel C is a much more hardware oriented device. It has a much better CPU, GPU. But that's where the pros stop for me. Out of curiosity I ran the AnTuTu 3DBench on both devices. Where the Pixel C came back with something like 30-45 FPS the Book only received between 10-15 FPS. The Yoga Book is not a hardcore gaming machine. The thing is, I don't use these devices primarily for gaming. If that's what you want to do then the Pixel C is what you want. If that isn't what you want to do and productivity is more important to you then please read on.
Here is what the Pixel C has that the Yoga Book does not have: CPU power, GPU power, durability, brand power,
Here is what the Yoga Book has that the Pixel C does not: A light up LED touch sensitive keyboard that quickly turns into a note taking drawing tablet (this includes the special pen that comes with it and the paper), microHDMI slot, SIM card slot, 4GB ram, lightweight, easily folds in half to hold itself up for Netflix/YouTube viewing sessions, multiple apps running at the same time, "windows" for each app so you can work with 2 or 3 apps on the screen at the same time, Dolby Digital sound (I never thought I would hear this quality of sound come out of a tablet, it's very good and I'm an audiophile. It doesn't beat out my 7.1 surround theater but in a pinch it does deliver 5.1 surround audio in a very unique way), speaking of sound the Pixel C is terrible in this capacity; either I got a bad device or the Pixel C has worse sound than the Nexus 10, your purchase comes with a free "sleeve" to carry your book in if you purchase from lenovo.
Needless to say I'm keeping the Yoga Book and sending back the Pixel C. Probably not going to win me any friends here but I wanted to be truthful. Don't get me wrong, the Pixel C is a great device... if I were to purchase it 6 to 12 months ago. With the new devices on their way up and nothing in the way of innovation going on I cannot recommend one. It's basically just an updated Nexus 10 with newer CPU/GPU and fewer ports.
The Yoga Book is innovative and useful. I am currently using it at work to administer 122 computers in 3 locations. I then take it into a meeting and write notes onto it which then transcribe to text. Saving everything I wrote into journals. Then bring it back to my desk, flip it up and watch Netflix.
If you want me to take pictures or if you have any questions let me know I'll respond for the next 24 hours or so.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Looking for a Kodi box plus emulation
Can the box run Dreamcast/PS1/PSP /N64 games well?
Should I chose the new firebox or an Intel atom cherry trail small media center
All I can say to this is I absolutely love my MOJO and would not replace it. But (there's always a but!) it can be a tough console to love and requires a bit of effort to get what you want from it. That said I would not change it and have even considered buying another as a back up.
Ultimately it does depend on what you want from it.
For me it's a brilliant one-stop place for my movies and games. I use KODI but I don't stream with it (though I am led to believe the box does this well) but instead have my personal media on an external drive along with my retro games. I flashed the console with UJD's Cyanogenmod 12.1 and have tailored it further still with the Top TV Launcher from the Play store. There have been some minor bumps along the way but I have resolved everything that I had problems with.
I would recommend not paying too much for one now if it can be avoided. I paid £60 brand new for mine and that is about right considering the required effort needed to get it running sweetly. I certainly wouldn't pay over £100 that some are trying to charge on eBay for second hand units.
As for emulation it is imho the best box I have bought for it. Some of the emus need a bit of work but they won't suffer because of anything the MOJO does wrong. N64 runs extremely well on both Retroarch and Mupen FZ Edition. I also recently installed Drastic which is amazing too. Dreamcast emulation is very old but still runs OK via Reicast. PSX is spot on, though I haven't tried PSP. The only downside with emulation here is the D-pad on the CTRLR. It is very stiff. I've gotten used to it but occasionally on fighting games it drives me nuts!
Wow fantastic response they are going for £60 ATM
Roughly same as fire box TV ,
Also could add extra and get a Intel atom cherry trail for £80
Nvidia shield is the bee knees but is around 150 which I don't have.
I'd say no, support for it is pretty much dead and current custom roms are fairly buggy.
I've had no issues with CM 12.1 personally. It has been extremely stable and problem free for me. The only thing I've heard is Netflix doesn't work, but I don't need that myself. If you do use it, you may wish to consider something else. Similarly, I don't have a 4K set, just a fairly standard 1080p TV. I don't know how the MOJO works with 4K, and I suspect you'd need to look elsewhere for that.
I came to this box from the OUYA, the Raspberry Pi (3), and I also had a Minix Neo U1. They are all compromises one way or the other. Even the Nvidia Shield is in some ways. Stuff may work on one but not the other, options may be available on that box but not on the other box. The compromises with the MOJO worked out better for me than the compromises the other boxes offered.
I'm not trying to convince you to buy one. If you have the money I'd say get the Shield as people seem to love it, and the MOJO is not a Shield replacement. What it is to me is a great game console and media player that I have tailored to suit me over time, and at this point I would not swap it out for anything else.
Just got the mojo on ebay for 35 delivered
So looks like it should be coming Tuesday.
Cm12 best option
CM 12.1 I would say personally, but you might want to try them all and see which works best for you. You can't really brick the MOJO once the recovery is installed. The files you'll need are around the forums somewhere. You might like the stock OS, who knows?
£35 all in? That's absolutely excellent. Even if you don't like it, for that price you can sell it on again and not lose anything.
I personally followed this guide to install the OS. It says it's for Remix but it helps with all of them. If you have any trouble I'm sure a good search around here will set you on your path. Chances are someone else will have experienced the same problem and posted here.
Once it's installed, first thing I would do is install a shutdown button as otherwise you'll just be unplugging to switch it off. I hate that myself, it can't be any good for the system. I use Quick Reboot Pro, but I think there's a free version. Also as I mentioned before I would try Top TV Launcher too. Many people do not like the stock Android interface on their TV's. I don't either tbh but I could cope with it, but Top TV Launcher is much better and nicely customisable once you know how it works. If you do decide to use CM 12.1, root is in the developer options.
K-Project said:
CM 12.1 I would say personally, but you might want to try them all and see which works best for you. You can't really brick the MOJO once the recovery is installed. The files you'll need are around the forums somewhere. You might like the stock OS, who knows?
£35 all in? That's absolutely excellent. Even if you don't like it, for that price you can sell it on again and not lose anything.
I personally followed this guide to install the OS. It says it's for Remix but it helps with all of them. If you have any trouble I'm sure a good search around here will set you on your path. Chances are someone else will have experienced the same problem and posted here.
Once it's installed, first thing I would do is install a shutdown button as otherwise you'll just be unplugging to switch it off. I hate that myself, it can't be any good for the system. I use Quick Reboot Pro, but I think there's a free version. Also as I mentioned before I would try Top TV Launcher too. Many people do not like the stock Android interface on their TV's. I don't either tbh but I could cope with it, but Top TV Launcher is much better and nicely customisable once you know how it works. If you do decide to use CM 12.1, root is in the developer options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes £25 pound won the bid but a tenner postage and packaging.
Thank you for the tips
Is it easy enough to add extra controllers i.e Xbox pad (i have adapter) and Bluetooth pads
Looking forward to Mario kart and fzero
You can add other pads for two player but to be honest you'll be using the CTRLR as the main controller for the system. You'll likely be better off with Bluetooth pads for multi player gaming (though the only one of those I've tried is the retail CTRLR) as the stock pad included uses up one of the two USB ports provided. This can be a pain if you use the other USB for storage, so you'll have to use a Bluetooth pad as a second controller rather than a wired one. Also I would note that the SD card slot is only really useful for installing OS's. If you try to use it when your new OS is installed it will mess up your wifi (i.e - it won't work). Just reserve the SD card slot for installation purposes only and don't use it as storage. It's a shame but there it is. Unless you stick with the stock OS where I believe it works fine.
Thanks for the heads up so if i want to add external storage another usb way is the way forward.
Yes that would be my recommendation. On mine I have the stock CTRLR in one USB (the 3.0 one) and my external 2Tb hard drive in the other. I've recently started using my retail CTRLR and this does not require a dongle. It's freed up a USB port but I don't really have anything to plug into it anyway beyond a wired pad for two player games.
I hope you enjoy it tbh, but I know people have been this way before and really disliked it. A lot of this was to do with the stock Android OS on a big TV, which is why I recommended the TV launcher above. But also a lot of folks just didn't like having to deal with it in such a manual way. Like I say I paid £60 for mine so could afford to be philosophical about it, as can you I suppose at £30. I suppose those who paid £200 upwards won't be as forgiving, and I would not have been either all told.
Well maybe i have bought a dud my own fault for not reading listing ,
As it was sold as used and not for spares or repairs
Unable to copy and paste but basically the seller maybe from here as apprantly he's gone to flash android tv and basically the unit goes into some sort of boot loop , he mentions 4 coloured balls.
Can I recover this ?
sutty86 said:
Well maybe i have bought a dud my own fault for not reading listing ,
As it was sold as used and not for spares or repairs
Unable to copy and paste but basically the seller maybe from here as apprantly he's gone to flash android tv and basically the unit goes into some sort of boot loop , he mentions 4 coloured balls.
Can I recover this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You most likely can recover this, unless it's a hardware issue. Search through the forums, there is a key combo to get into the recovery menu from boot up... it's something like CTRL-ALT-PRNT SCREEN-I. Failing that there is also the USB AtoA cable which will put you into fastboot mode on bootup, from there you can flash it with whatever you like.
Personally i like the Remix OS image... very stable, everything works including Netflix... I use my MOJO as a Moonlight streaming device that i stream all my Steam games to my TV with, then play from the comfort of my couch :victory:
Enjoy!
sutty86 said:
Well maybe i have bought a dud my own fault for not reading listing ,
As it was sold as used and not for spares or repairs
Unable to copy and paste but basically the seller maybe from here as apprantly he's gone to flash android tv and basically the unit goes into some sort of boot loop , he mentions 4 coloured balls.
Can I recover this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AH! This may be the same listing I was following for a short time. Yes the owner had tried to flash it himself but got stuck with it and didn't know what to do next. I was going to buy it as a backup (I've always got my eye out for a backup!).
It could be a hardware fault but personally I'll be amazed if you can't rescue it one way or the other. The MOJO is incredibly friendly to users and is (I'm told) difficult to actually brick. Unless it is a hardware issue, I don't think you'll have any bother installing TWRP recovery and then installing your chosen OS. There are more than enough quality guides on this site as long as you follow them closely.
I did try Remix myself and loved it. I would have stuck with it, but unfortunately it did not play nicely with my NTFS formatted 2Tb external drive. I had to install Paragon NTFS, but even then when playing back my media files using KODI the playback was a mess of jitter and stutter. No such issue with CM 12.1 - it recognises the drive no problem and playback is silky smooth. YMMV.
Hey Everyone,
I recently purchased a brand new sealed 64GB Pixel C for $275. I have ALWAYS wanted one but never really needed a tablet until recently. My kindle crapped out, and I have been listening to some audiobooks and I wanted a way to combine the 2. I also plan on maybe watching some movies from my Plex server, some Netflix, and that's probably it...oh and some comics as well....
I had some general questions for those of you who have had a Pixel C for some time.
1. I know there are some screen issues, and I believe based on the serial (i'll confirm when it arrives in two days) mine seems to be made in 2016 sometime, and even though I am in the US, it's a EU version.... Do the problems seem to be on all C's or just a specific run of them?
2. If you were me, and only wanted a tablet for ebooks/audio books and of course some media, but no apps that are super intensive, would you just upgrade from the 6.0 to the 8.0 that's official (or 7.0 if it's good?) , or install a custom rom. If the latter, any recommendations from personal experience?
3. Since it's 2020 and this tablet is coming up on almost 5 years....do you feel I overpaid? This is a completely irrelevant question, I just REALLY REALLY wanted one, I hate Samsung and wanted something with as close to a pure google experience like my Pixel phone. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I have seen them selling used in good shape in the upper 100's range, and most are 32GB.....
4. Anything else I should know that I don't see jumping out at me in the forums that you would pass along to a new C owner?
Thanks everyone in advance!
Hank
Hank_Rearden said:
Hey Everyone,
I recently purchased a brand new sealed 64GB Pixel C for $275. I have ALWAYS wanted one but never really needed a tablet until recently. My kindle crapped out, and I have been listening to some audiobooks and I wanted a way to combine the 2. I also plan on maybe watching some movies from my Plex server, some Netflix, and that's probably it...oh and some comics as well....
I had some general questions for those of you who have had a Pixel C for some time.
1. I know there are some screen issues, and I believe based on the serial (i'll confirm when it arrives in two days) mine seems to be made in 2016 sometime, and even though I am in the US, it's a EU version.... Do the problems seem to be on all C's or just a specific run of them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not aware of better or worse serial numbers. I assume later is better? Mine has image retention / ghosting & a purple shift in white balance but I never got the half screen failure or other issues.
2. If you were me, and only wanted a tablet for ebooks/audio books and of course some media, but no apps that are super intensive, would you just upgrade from the 6.0 to the 8.0 that's official (or 7.0 if it's good?) , or install a custom rom. If the latter, any recommendations from personal experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend either Pixel Experience 10 or LineageOS 17 if you are at all comfortable with flashing. ROMs are little more work. But they offer the latest patches, some new features, some specific fixes for our aging hardware, and because you have to install TWRP first you have that safety net for when things go wrong. I also happen to really like Android 10 for what that's worth. You might have to use Magisk Hide to get some apps working, and you probably have to sideload Netflix from APKmirror but it should work just fine.
If you don't mind how it works out of the box, and you don't care for fiddling with it, and you aren't concerned with the screen lock bug, then stock is perfectly fine. Some people say 7 was better than 8 because of some video driver bug that broke a few Unity based games. I have zero idea if this was fixed in any of the ROMs.
3. Since it's 2020 and this tablet is coming up on almost 5 years....do you feel I overpaid? This is a completely irrelevant question, I just REALLY REALLY wanted one, I hate Samsung and wanted something with as close to a pure google experience like my Pixel phone. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I have seen them selling used in good shape in the upper 100's range, and most are 32GB.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am considering selling my Galaxy Tab S6, even though it is nicer in so many ways, because I just disagree with so many Samsung UX decisions. So I continue to use the Pixel C and I hope you like yours. I am a little envious you found a good condition 64GB one! There are countless little touches where the Pixel C does what I expect and my Samsung devices do not. Using an USB audio device? Pixel C can use it for music and also to make VoIP calls. Believe it or not many Samsungs cannot route 'phone' type audio over USB. Music only! Using a mouse? Open Chrome, right-click on a link. Notice that beautiful options menu that pops up? Try the same thing on a Samsung and notice it is just Android back function. Back to the Pixel C, try to middle-click on a link and notice it opens in a new tab in the background. Just like on desktop Chrome! Then, try with a Samsung and notice middle-click is the same as Android home function. Samsung just decided to break mousing and I hate it. Even things like display scaling work well on the Pixel C and badly on Samsung devices. Want everything to be very small? That's easy to do, and basically everything scales (except the nav bar, but there is a fix for that). On my Samsungs some parts of the UI scale and other parts don't. You end with comically unmatched icons and other elements like the notification shade. I really thought DeX could fix these issues for me and it didn't, but that is a different story. I like Samsung features but by golly they suck at the basics IMO.
4. Anything else I should know that I don't see jumping out at me in the forums that you would pass along to a new C owner?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not everything in Google-land is good. The Pixel C was never trouble free and still isn't with even the best ROMs. 3GB of RAM was too little for a 'productivity device' in 2015 and obviously still isn't enough (your use-case should be fine however). The storage speed is slow, it is prone to occassional jank (probably combination slow storage & low RAM), and if the battery isn't perfectly healthy you will experience bad CPU throttling (this is fixed in ROMs and in my case was a night and day difference). You are already aware of the screen problems. The headphone jack quality is not good, and the bluetooth range for headsets is about 5 ft (I am not joking, it's astonishingly bad!). There used to be many WiFi reception complaints but I think it was fixed long ago. Reception is on the weak end however. The touch screen is sensitive to interference and you can get ghost touches when using a low quality charger (YMMV on that one, my hardware might be faulty). Last thing that comes to mind is that occassionally, and seemingly randomly, your lock screen PIN will just... stop working. If you are on stock software with a locked bootloader then all you can do is factory reset!! This alone is a great reason to go with ROMs.
Thanks everyone in advance!
Hank
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck and welcome to the community!
locuturus said:
I am not aware of better or worse serial numbers. I assume later is better? Mine has image retention / ghosting & a purple shift in white balance but I never got the half screen failure or other issues.
I recommend either Pixel Experience 10 or LineageOS 17 if you are at all comfortable with flashing. ROMs are little more work. But they offer the latest patches, some new features, some specific fixes for our aging hardware, and because you have to install TWRP first you have that safety net for when things go wrong. I also happen to really like Android 10 for what that's worth. You might have to use Magisk Hide to get some apps working, and you probably have to sideload Netflix from APKmirror but it should work just fine.
If you don't mind how it works out of the box, and you don't care for fiddling with it, and you aren't concerned with the screen lock bug, then stock is perfectly fine. Some people say 7 was better than 8 because of some video driver bug that broke a few Unity based games. I have zero idea if this was fixed in any of the ROMs.
I am considering selling my Galaxy Tab S6, even though it is nicer in so many ways, because I just disagree with so many Samsung UX decisions. So I continue to use the Pixel C and I hope you like yours. I am a little envious you found a good condition 64GB one! There are countless little touches where the Pixel C does what I expect and my Samsung devices do not. Using an USB audio device? Pixel C can use it for music and also to make VoIP calls. Believe it or not many Samsungs cannot route 'phone' type audio over USB. Music only! Using a mouse? Open Chrome, right-click on a link. Notice that beautiful options menu that pops up? Try the same thing on a Samsung and notice it is just Android back function. Back to the Pixel C, try to middle-click on a link and notice it opens in a new tab in the background. Just like on desktop Chrome! Then, try with a Samsung and notice middle-click is the same as Android home function. Samsung just decided to break mousing and I hate it. Even things like display scaling work well on the Pixel C and badly on Samsung devices. Want everything to be very small? That's easy to do, and basically everything scales (except the nav bar, but there is a fix for that). On my Samsungs some parts of the UI scale and other parts don't. You end with comically unmatched icons and other elements like the notification shade. I really thought DeX could fix these issues for me and it didn't, but that is a different story. I like Samsung features but by golly they suck at the basics IMO.
Not everything in Google-land is good. The Pixel C was never trouble free and still isn't with even the best ROMs. 3GB of RAM was too little for a 'productivity device' in 2015 and obviously still isn't enough (your use-case should be fine however). The storage speed is slow, it is prone to occassional jank (probably combination slow storage & low RAM), and if the battery isn't perfectly healthy you will experience bad CPU throttling (this is fixed in ROMs and in my case was a night and day difference). You are already aware of the screen problems. The headphone jack quality is not good, and the bluetooth range for headsets is about 5 ft (I am not joking, it's astonishingly bad!). There used to be many WiFi reception complaints but I think it was fixed long ago. Reception is on the weak end however. The touch screen is sensitive to interference and you can get ghost touches when using a low quality charger (YMMV on that one, my hardware might be faulty). Last thing that comes to mind is that occassionally, and seemingly randomly, your lock screen PIN will just... stop working. If you are on stock software with a locked bootloader then all you can do is factory reset!! This alone is a great reason to go with ROMs.
Good luck and welcome to the community!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for the detailed response. I am glad I am not the only one who feels that way about the Samsung tablets. I ALMOST bought an S4, then I ALMOST bought an S5E, but just don't like the way they do Android. I checked my tracking and the tablet comes today! So I think what I will do is just upgrade to the most recent official, leave the device lock off for now as I don't plan on going anywhere with the C, and see how it goes. I have dabbled in ROMS in the past for a lot of phones I have had through the years, so I assume this is not too far different as far as the process. The Lineage ROM seems to be a little better for the C from reading some of the known issues, but I will take a look at them after I assess the performance of the C. I really don't want to have the unit hit 70% then completely crap the bed on the performance side....
The Bluetooth range is sad to hear considering i JUST ordered the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones. They will be here either Friday or Saturday. If i need to hear something beyond the range of it sitting close to me I'll just use my phone.
I'll report how things are going once I receive it, and thanks again for the detailed response. It has put me at ease!
Cheers
Hank
It came and was exactly as described. Did the update and now it's charging. Updated some apps and it's moving pretty well. We shall see what happens when I get more stuff loaded on there, but I will say it's better than I expected. Such beautiful hardware.....
1. I know there are some screen issues, and I believe based on the serial (i'll confirm when it arrives in two days) mine seems to be made in 2016 sometime, and even though I am in the US, it's a EU version.... Do the problems seem to be on all C's or just a specific run of them?
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I bought an used Pixel C with its keyboard and a pouch and its screen seems still fine. A Youtube video pointed the issue for its cable in the middle behind the screen panel being pressed so I thought keyboard&pouch may have prevented it.
2. If you were me, and only wanted a tablet for ebooks/audio books and of course some media, but no apps that are super intensive, would you just upgrade from the 6.0 to the 8.0 that's official (or 7.0 if it's good?) , or install a custom rom. If the latter, any recommendations from personal experience?
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Mine was on stock 8..1 and now is LineageOS 17 based on Android 10. Stock 8.1 seemed to work fine. I preferred some Android 10's swiping features such as swiping from left or right to go back and swiping up to go to homescreen or other running apps to buttons and black bottom bar previous versions. Netflix HD still works.
On the other hand, unlocking bootloader caused additional 30 seconds to boot with caution message and weird beep noise in boot sequence. As you might know, even when locked in setting, in recovery mode, someone could physically connect your device to another and steal files in the device. Some error messages with security warning pops up in notification so the rom might not fully support Android security features. (I have little knowledge on this.)
When its brightness set close to lowest level, screen seemed to be turned off or brightness seems a bit unstable. (Being able to set close to the mininum is still good.) BTW some of gamepad buttons mapped incorrectly (not sure it was due to LineageOS).
3. Since it's 2020 and this tablet is coming up on almost 5 years....do you feel I overpaid? This is a completely irrelevant question, I just REALLY REALLY wanted one, I hate Samsung and wanted something with as close to a pure google experience like my Pixel phone. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I have seen them selling used in good shape in the upper 100's range, and most are 32GB.....
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It's display ratio is better than 16:10 from other android tablets for e-books, pdf files, comics. Someone wrote its ratio fits for two pages side by side. Among Android tablets as far as I know, there are not many with 3:2 or 4:3. Nexus 9's screen could be great but it has only 2GB ram and other flaws. Xiaomi MiPad doesn't support Netflix HD. iPads would match the need but it seems you didn't want one. What I looked for was an Android tablet which is not Samsung or Huawei and supports Netflix HD. Of course, newer APs have advantages in power consumption, better game support, weight etc. Galaxy Tab S6 lite supports S-pen which is good for pdf notetaking. I tried to write in pdf files with Xodo PDF app and Bamboo Tip stylus and it wasn't so successful. Still, I like mine.
4. Anything else I should know that I don't see jumping out at me in the forums that you would pass along to a new C owner?
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Its PCB is on the left side so it gets hot when running intensive apps or charging. (The bottom of the display turned a bit yellowish. Because of keyboard attached?)
USB PD laptop chargers works but the left side feels hotter compared to charging with 5V 3A chargers.
With its keyboard is good to use on lap or as a stand but it would be pricey to buy a new one.
I have a couple of the Fire 7" 2015 models that have started to collect dust because over time the OS updates have slowed it to a crawl. I believe this is the "Ford" hardware? But I'm not 100% sure. A couple of years ago, I looked into roms because my 2nd gen HD model (tate?) had an excellent cyanogen mod that made it run SO MUCH BETTER than fire OS, but that device broke. But nothing for this hardware existed.
Now I've heard TWRP and root exist for this device, but I'm having a hard time sorting through the various models being discussed here. Are there custom roms for this device now? Is there a way to breathe new life into the hardware and make it usable again as an Android tablet?
I also have an HD8 (original), but that one isn't quite as bad as the standard 7" models. If anyone has any advice or pointers to make either of these usable again, please let me know?
dishe2 said:
I have a couple of the Fire 7" 2015 models that have started to collect dust because over time the OS updates have slowed it to a crawl. I believe this is the "Ford" hardware? But I'm not 100% sure. A couple of years ago, I looked into roms because my 2nd gen HD model (tate?) had an excellent cyanogen mod that made it run SO MUCH BETTER than fire OS, but that device broke. But nothing for this hardware existed.
Now I've heard TWRP and root exist for this device, but I'm having a hard time sorting through the various models being discussed here. Are there custom roms for this device now? Is there a way to breathe new life into the hardware and make it usable again as an Android tablet?
I also have an HD8 (original), but that one isn't quite as bad as the standard 7" models. If anyone has any advice or pointers to make either of these usable again, please let me know?
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You can repurpose or re-use your Fire tablet:
Digital Clock.
Digital Photo Frame.
MIDI controller.
NAS (network-attached storage) server.
If your Fire tablet is dead. You can salvage any parts such as the battery.
My wife bought a 4 pack of these in 2015 or 2016, she put them away to use the next year..... we found them last week. Whoops. Two of them won't take a charge, two will. I've debloated and set Nova as default and installed Play Store on both. They have a pathetic amount of storage so you won't be using them for much, but they are not bad for a single purpose or light usage.
One of mine sits on my desk running ZMNinja while I'm home so I can glance at my security cameras, it does that rather well. The other I have more general purpose stuff on it, and most of it runs okay.. Some apps just crash however, like imgur for some reason, haven't bothered to look at logcat.
And they would be fine for ebooks too
Hi, I'm new to all this (and new here) so please go easy on me if this is an idiotic question.
I use a couple of note 3's. Both are N9005's, and both are on Android 5.0. One is rooted so I could dump junk like TripAdvisor and the like, but I did that a year or so back, and the process is now a forgotten memory. They both work OK, but I'm starting to see a lot of software that's no longer working because the developers have constantly been upgrading it for newer phones and left mine behind, and I'm also seeing certain adverts in pretty low end word games consistently crashing the games. I thought my notes hardware was probably just too dated to run "Modern" apps, but while looking about at what phones were available that might be suitable replacements, I realised the current entry level smartphones have specs that make the notes hardware still seem pretty current, and THOSE low spec things run these modern versions of the apps perfectly happily !?!?!
So my NEW thinking on this is that the hardware's still capable of running these apps, but the OS is just too dated. I'm hoping It's a bit like installing windows 95 on a current spec PC and trying to run some cutting edge software on it. The software just hasn't got the ability to talk to the hardware through the obsolete OS.
Does this sound right, or am I missing something? And does this mean that if I flash them to later roms, I'll suddenly be able to use these currently "Incompatible" apps again?
Thanks in advance for any help.
I just thought "Oh, s** it, I'll just try it on one of my phones", and installed LineageOS 18.1 on it. The install went pretty smoothly, and everything I've tested seems to be working. I've also installed a few of the apps that either wouldn't install under 5.0 or didn't work properly once they were. It seems my assumptions about the OS being the issue might have been on the money. Apps I haven't been able to use for over a year are now perfectly happy to install and run.
Once I've got everything organised to my liking on this one I'll use it as my primary phone for a few weeks, and if nothing falls over I'll update my other one too.
Yes, u did the right thing.
just be careful, some apps might be compatible with your android version, but not compatible with your Chip. arm64 apps are not compatible with any variant of galaxy note 3. even if u install them, they crash.
Yeah. I might have spoke too soon in my second comment.
The phone seems happy enough on LineageOS 18.1, and some of the apps that flat out refused to run are now working fine again, but some apps that were experiencing random crashes are still randomly crashing (Usually while trying to play in game adverts).
I really could do with a couple of new phones, but (A) I can't warent spending near four figures (sterling) on new phones right now, and (B) there's nothing on the market that I desperately want.
I demand user replaceable batteries, and the best available one at present is the Fairphone 4, but the quality controls at Fairphone has apparently gone through the floor since they become better known and got drastically increased sales.