Related
Im curious to see if you guys have any issues without the multi touch. I would love to love this device but I do like to play games once in a blue moon and want to know if this would have an effect.
Also, if you had to do it all over again, would you purchase this device?
Thanks for your feedback
stanglx said:
Im curious to see if you guys have any issues without the multi touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If by multitouch you mean "pinch and zoom", it doesn't work for me. Otherwise, it's known the A7 doesn't support more than two simultaneous touches.
Also, if you had to do it all over again, would you purchase this device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't decided yet, but right now I'm inclined to return it. Reasons:
Feels heavier in the hand after using it several times.
No USB-to-computer connection... unbelievable...!
In bed, I rest the tablet on my lap/stomach... yet they placed the AC connection at the bottom... another unbelievable decision...!
I do find mine frustrating to type on due to the lack of multitouch. I'm not the world's fastest typer or anything but many times I touch down for my next keypress before removing my first and that causes a misregistered touches.
Other than that I'm satisfied with the tablet... though I am getting some pretty screwy touch behavior at times. I may follow up with elocity support about that.
This was my fear... Games require multi-touch.. but what many dont realize is so does typing on these things...
I appreciate the feedback... Seems this device is a no go for me... I dont care about more then 2 point touch.. but 1 point doesnt make it for me..
I just cant understand how they can come out with such a promising device and skimp on something would have amounted to an extra $10 per unit... they could have passed that on to the consumer and had a significant amount of units sold... as of right now they are the only Tegra 2/512Meg unit on the market...Really ashame...
On to my research...
eskaryo said:
I do find mine frustrating to type on due to the lack of multitouch. I'm not the world's fastest typer or anything but many times I touch down for my next keypress before removing my first and that causes a misregistered touches.
Other than that I'm satisfied with the tablet... though I am getting some pretty screwy touch behavior at times. I may follow up with elocity support about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Multi touch
The Hardware for the touch screen is does support "Multi touch" or 1 + 1, pinch/zoom, etc.... inputs that being said it looks like the drivers that Stream are using have such poor support for it that it might as well not be there. they never Stated that it was multi-touch so you cant really hold them to it.
But in theory someone (Maybe on the XDA Forums) with right skills and mad skills at that because it looks like it would need a complete driver rewrite might be able to bring true Multi touch support to the device.
But I am not holding my breath, its a Amazing tabet for what it does, and even better for the price but with everything there is need/room for improvement, if there wasnt there wouldn't be XDA or any other hardware hackers
It is unbearable!!
Seriously though the pinch and zoom is cool and I hope it gets supported soon either by XDA or is Elocity is really reading these forums and wants repeat business from the early adopters than I hope they might actually support their own device and add the functionality.
What is a shame that I have seen with other manufacturers is that instead of fixing or updating or improving existing devices they just improve the next model that is released like 3 months after the initial release and expect people to upgrade if they want the problems fixed or leave it to devs. Seems like pretty poor support to me.
Look if you are going to build something and ask people to shell out a good deal of money then you should give the consumer the extra value by extending updates and improvements to the device as they come along. In other words development should continue on the device after it is sold so the existing customer base has a good user experience and then shares that experience with friends. As it is now I would not recommend these tabs to any friends unless I know they are tech savy. If I knew Elocity would back up their products then I would be more vocal about the product to others.
However, the lack of pinch and zoom is a problem and it would be nice to have. However, everything I have tried to do with this tab is does remarkably well. I have enjoyed using for now and hopefully soon there will be work arounds to the problems or limitations of the device but as it is now without any changes it is a very nice device and I like it a lot. For $300 there are not many other devices that come close. The Galaxy tab is nice but at $500 without Honeycomb I will stick with an iPad. For me that is what it comes down to. Cost and choice. If I can get an Aple iPad for $429 with an amazing screen, good processor, tons of cool apps, 4.2 ios then I think it is very hard to compare anything else. Android is cool but it is very much a phone os and it shows. While iPad uses a phone OS but it works very well and it shows the customization apple has done with their devices. I think when 3.0 comes out it is really going to change everything. The peek photos I have seen are simply jawdropping cool. So I did not want to fork out a bunch of cash on something that will be updated with a totally new os soon. The Elocity a7 was a way for me to experience Android without a phone or data plan and I am happy so far with my choice!
The A7 was purchased for my wife. Her use is eBooks, browsing, email, facebook, and some casual gaming. For that use case, the device (after Dexter's Mod) is perfectly fine. The only complaint I have is the fact that the menu buttons aren't backlit (onscreen keys work fine, but it's a workaround, not a fix).
For me, however, I like to tinker with everything (see my sig, running CM7 nightlies on my Droid Incredible) and I would prefer to have a Viewsonic G Tablet. Being that the A7 only cost me $300 and it's not really mine anyhow, I can't complain. Yes, the slew of new devices coming in the very near future will be better. But if you go by that logic there will ALWAYS be something better in the pipeline.
The A7 is a good device at a reasonable price. To make it great would take true multi-touch support and xda developer support for further Android versions (I'm not conviced we'll see much support from eLocity and while Dexter has done a phenomenal job with his mod, he's limited in his capacity to support a device he can't even get his hands on).
The lack of real multitouch does not bother me in the least. I'm using it mostly for surfing. What games require multitouch? Not angry birds
I absolutely love turning the tablet vertically for typing. I can really fly! Way better than my Galaxy S
Anyway, Dexter's mod really makes this thing real.
Only complaint so far is the standby time (32 hours). That may be due to the mod.
I'm very happy with my device. Aside from the lack of back lit buttons. On a side note the app "button savior" helps alot with the onscreen buttons. Yes i would of liked to have a multi touch experience right out of the box, but the price tag helped me get over that. That being said i would rate my elocity a solid 9.5 out of 10. Im just super excited to see what is to come!!!
And might i add Dexter makes this thing worth wild!! Big props!
I'll echo everyone in the button comment. Maybe we can come up with a glow-in-the-dark solution? I'm thinking some relatively invisible (during daytime) material/glue to put small marks near the edge to indicate the middle positions of the buttons. I think I know the order of the buttons by now, so simple dot would be enough. I'll let you know if I think of something.
dburckh said:
The lack of real multitouch does not bother me in the least. I'm using it mostly for surfing. What games require multitouch? Not angry birds
I absolutely love turning the tablet vertically for typing. I can really fly! Way better than my Galaxy S
Anyway, Dexter's mod really makes this thing real.
Only complaint so far is the standby time (32 hours). That may be due to the mod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Angry birds allows you to zoom in and out to get better view of the targets. So you are not getting best experience without multitouch
Hi,
I have a 10" Android tablet (a Viewsonic Gtab), but am thinking of getting a smaller tablet, for portability. I guess that, functionality-wise, I've been somewhat spoiled by the Gtablet, but the Archos 43 seems to come close, but with a smaller form factor.
So, I've been researching it.
I know that the screen is resistive and only 1 point touch, and that it has 256MB of RAM memory, and is available with either 8GB or 16GB, but had some questions:
- The Archos site says it comes with Froyo, but starting Nov 2010. I'm assuming that the current units are shipping with Froyo, but the Archos wiki site still lists 2.1, so I was wondering: What are the current (new) units shipping with? Is it Android 2.2? Or, are they still shipping with 2.1?
- On the Archosfan site, I've seen some threads about the size of the system part of the nonvolatile memory (/system ?), but it seems like there hasn't been any success in increasing that. Is that still the current case?
- What kind of debug-type, unbricking capability does it have? For example:
o Does it support ADB via the mini-USB port?
o Is there a recovery capability (e.g., power on + vol, to flash recovery)?
- I gather that it's possible to get Android market installed, but wanted to confirm that that's the case?
- Some general questions: How are the display (both viewing and touch responsiveness) and internal speakers, and is the Archos 43 reasonably fast (I know that that last one is a relative question)?
Sorry for all of the questions!
Thanks in advance,
Jim
jimcpl said:
I know that the screen is resistive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try it out before you buy -- you might hate it.
The Archos site says it comes with Froyo, but starting Nov 2010. I'm assuming that the current units are shipping with Froyo, but the Archos wiki site still lists 2.1, so I was wondering: What are the current (new) units shipping with? Is it Android 2.2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They ship with 2.1, but will update to a highly-hacked version of 2.2 when you connect them to the Internet. Careful -- the custom 2.2 build uses an older kernel (2.6.29), and it seems that the JIT is disabled.
o Does it support ADB via the mini-USB port?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
o Is there a recovery capability (e.g., power on + vol, to flash recovery)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
I gather that it's possible to get Android market installed, but wanted to confirm that that's the case?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Some general questions: How are the display (both viewing and touch responsiveness)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For viewing, the display is pretty nice. The touchscreen is pretty horrible -- I find it's unusable with fingers, you need a so-called "stylus" (a match or the cap of a ball-point pen will do fine).
A few other caveats, which might or might not be relevant to you:
there's no GPS, which is a real shame for a device with such a nice, large screen;
the camera is pretty poor, it's really only useful as a webcam;
the MPEG-1/2 and AC3 codecs cost extra, and while it is possible to install a free software player, that won't allow you to play HD content;
there's no IPv6 support in the official kernel.
In short, I'm finding it's quite nice as a media player, but certainly not as a general-purpose Android device.
--jch
jch,
Thanks for the info.
Re. the Froyo and the older kernel: What is the impact of that? Does that mean that some (all? a lot?) of apps from market won't run on the 43?
Re. the screen. I have some older PPC/Windows Mobile PDAs (IPAQ 100, Dell Axim, etc.). How the touch sensitivity on the 43 compares to those?
I don't need IPV6 or GPS...
Thanks again,
Jim
Jim,
Have you considered a phone like the Droid X or the Evo? Screen size is nearly the same, but then you would always have it with you and you would probably be happier with it as a portable device.
BTW...once you go capacitive, resistive screens seem like ass ancient technology that you kinda hate. Its like sleeping in silk pajamas and then changing into polyester ones.
ExploreMN said:
Jim,
Have you considered a phone like the Droid X or the Evo? Screen size is nearly the same, but then you would always have it with you and you would probably be happier with it as a portable device.
BTW...once you go capacitive, resistive screens seem like ass ancient technology that you kinda hate. Its like sleeping in silk pajamas and then changing into polyester ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Explore,
I mentioned that I have a G tablet, and that has a capacitive screen. I'm just looking for something smaller, kind of to use as an Android pda, not a phone, and esp. No monthly plan.
I've actually also been thinking of getting an LG Optimus V from Virginmobile, which is also Froyo, but Flash apparently is no-go on that because it uses an ARMV6 cpu.
Jim
jimcpl said:
Hi,I know that the screen is resistive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must try before you buy!!! I didn't know this when I bought my a43 and let me tell you, typing on this device is near impossible. In fact I find the resistive screen so bad I no longer bring my a43 to work with me and I have reverted to my iPod Touch since I can easily and quickly thumb type on it.
The a43 has been relegated to my desk at home strictly as a "learning about Android" device. I have paired it with an Apple BT keyboard and that makes it usable but not portable.
Hmmm - I kind of like my A43 IT. I find the resistive touch screen pretty good. It compares well with my now ancient Palm T|X and is almost as good as the capacitive multi-touch on my A101 IT.
After close to 20 years using a Palm, I am very used to small resistive touch screens. I am most comfortable with a stylus in my hand. I have fairly large hands and fingers, so it amazes me when I'm fingering my A43 and it gets it right most of the time. I actually have a sense that it knows what I'm thinking to get it so right. Again, 20 years of using Palm gestures with a stylus, as well as their tiny on-screen keyboard. I bought SwiftKey for both my A43 and A101. It's very intuitive (if software could be intuitive ). The few minutes I played with an iPad were no better to me.
Bye.
CrunchyDoodle said:
Hmmm - I kind of like my A43 IT. I find the resistive touch screen pretty good. It compares well with my now ancient Palm T|X and is almost as good as the capacitive multi-touch on my A101 IT.
After close to 20 years using a Palm, I am very used to small resistive touch screens. I am most comfortable with a stylus in my hand. I have fairly large hands and fingers, so it amazes me when I'm fingering my A43 and it gets it right most of the time. I actually have a sense that it knows what I'm thinking to get it so right. Again, 20 years of using Palm gestures with a stylus, as well as their tiny on-screen keyboard. I bought SwiftKey for both my A43 and A101. It's very intuitive (if software could be intuitive ). The few minutes I played with an iPad were no better to me.
Bye.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Crunchy,
I have a couple of TC1100's, so for this use, I'd not prefer having to use a stylus, I just realized though, that I also have a Fuj U820, which also has a 5" resistive touchscreen. The 43 would be a bit smaller screen, but seems like it'd be comparable, but w Froyo instead of Windows 7, so I'm kind of leaning to trying the 43.
Thanks for all the feedback, everybody!
Jim
jimcpl said:
Explore,
I mentioned that I have a G tablet, and that has a capacitive screen. I'm just looking for something smaller, kind of to use as an Android pda, not a phone, and esp. No monthly plan.
I've actually also been thinking of getting an LG Optimus V from Virginmobile, which is also Froyo, but Flash apparently is no-go on that because it uses an ARMV6 cpu.
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I decided to go ahead and order a 16GB a43 from Amazon yesterday. Should be here tomorrow, or so I hope.
I'll let you know how it is... the a32's resistive screen is VERY responsive,probably one of the best that I've used, or at least as good as the old PDAs and MUCH better than either the WPDN or Augen GT78...
Heh. Didn't notice that about the kernel... although a larger disappointment to me was only 256MB of RAM... and the uSD lack of the a32 but I knew about that ahead of time, still odd for something that is more useful as a PMP than a general purpose device. (The 3.2" screen @ 400x240 is just too tiny to really use for web browsing or reading except in a pinch. Also would've preferred a uSD slot over the crap camera(640x480) might be useful for barcode scanning, works for QR codes...)
One additional comment, I've take to using a stylus with the a32 as some programs(and keyboard) are really kind of small and the stylus makes it less painful to select various things... fingernail gets by most of the time, but I've come to prefer a stylus for pro-longed use so I'll try to keep that in mind when I get the a43... probably won't have much meaningful to say until Friday though... unless it's really awful...
[EDIT]
Seriously?! You're running stock fw on the gtab?! Has it gotten good enough to use? (Which is the main reason that I started exploring custom fws in November...)
Which reminds me of another comment about something that I already know for certain from using the Nook Color & a32: do NOT expect a cortex-a8 tablet to be as fast and smooth as a tegra 2 tablet. They just aren't.
Also forgot to mention that it seems that Archos added a swapfile w/the froyo upgrade so a little more internal storage is lost to it. Not sure if it makes any difference as I upgraded the a32 as soon as it had fully charged which took me straight to the latest fw which is what I'm using on it. (Seemed kind of pointless to bother with anything else on it since I'm only using it for music playing and occasional video... played some over uPnP from my linux box the other day(mediatomb) which went well...)
[/EDIT]
[EDIT2]
...so I decided to pull out the a32 and check some things with the Android System Info app, and found this hilarity: (this is stock 2.1.8 fw)
Android ID: dead00beef
and yep,
o.s. version: 2.6.29-omap1
[/EDIT2]
Cutterjohn,
Yep. Still on stock w Gtab... not even w the enhancement pack. Maybe I'm not as discriminating as others, but it's been fine for me, and I use it a LOT.
Besides the screen on the A43, the things I'm hesitating about are the 256Mb /system, whuch seems kind of restrictive, and what the downside if the older kernel is.
Thanks for the comments, and post when you get yours!
Jim
jimcpl said:
Cutterjohn,
Yep. Still on stock w Gtab... not even w the enhancement pack. Maybe I'm not as discriminating as others, but it's been fine for me, and I use it a LOT.
Besides the screen on the A43, the things I'm hesitating about are the 256Mb /system, whuch seems kind of restrictive, and what the downside if the older kernel is.
Thanks for the comments, and post when you get yours!
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will do. UPS finally got updated and they say that it's supposed to be delivered by end of day today...
One more comment that I can make wrt a32(hoping a43 will be similar as well) WiFi: the a32 seems to have about as good range as the gtab and NC which is pretty good for such a device. I'm just mentioning this because @ archosfans I'd read threads about poor WiFi. Maybe I just got lucky.
1st a32 was DOA BTW(probably deeply discharged batt), looked like a return unit as it wasn't sealed, a32 was out of it's shipping sleeve(missing) as were the USB & headphones also missing twist ties and packaging. So I exchanged it for a clearly new one. (I'm just mentioning this since I got mine from Sears and I remember someone mentioning that their gtab from Sears appeared to be a return unit... ) Actually I'm kind of surprised that Sears is still in business as most times that I stop by to look for something, e.g. USB card reader, it's nope we don't have any of those... Seems like they have next to no stock of anything, and alot of empty space in the elctronics section of the one that I went to...
[EDIT=c. 2p EDT]
OK it arrived not too long ago, but had to let it sit and warm up close to room temp before I wanted to start charging, which it's doing now. Just did the basic setup so far and started downloading 2.1.08, it came with 2.0.71 loaded on in(A32IT came with original Android 2.1)... will try to get in some usage time this afternoon/night. (Charging should go fairly quickly since I'm using the NC charger w/Archos cable 1A charger... used it last night on the A32IT and it charged it faster than by USB port on notebook and it seems OK...)
First evaluation: touch screen seems OK, but again I haven't done much besides the setup and look in the "about device" in settings...
...and yes this one apparently unlike the A32IT, actually did have a small plastic protector over the camera lens... I could just barely make out the tab to pull it off when held at a certain angle... double checked the A32IT again and it didn't have one... Screen protector is difficult to make out as well as the pull tab was pushed down and flush w/edge of case... best to remove it as it's only for shipping protection...
[/EDIT]
cutterjohn,
So how is it working so far? How bad/good is the touch vs. the Gtab? Also have you installed market, and tried apps from there?
Jim
jimcpl said:
cutterjohn,
So how is it working so far? How bad/good is the touch vs. the Gtab? Also have you installed market, and tried apps from there?
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was just going to post my preliminary impressions this morning. (I see that stock gTab got a nice update... now if they'd only go for honeycomb...)
Anyways, back to Archos:
I used the A43IT primarily as an ereader(FBReaderJ) on Wednesday afternoon along with trying the camera(haven't gotten around to xferring the files to nb yet to check), added a bunch of apps from appslib and sideload(mostly DolphinHD & AndFTP for sftp). Otherwise I've got everything still bog OOB 2.1.08 stock fw.
OK, Wed. set it to "powersave" in Power management(under About device) as my battery level by meter seemed to be dropping pretty quickly. I didn't see where this made much of a difference though, presumably it limits the max CPU clock to something less than 800MHz(probably 600MHz) which was fine for me since I was reading which isn't exactly CPU intensive. Also had the brightness set to min in Settings->Display->Brightness, WiFi & bluetooth OFF, and killed most running apps with "System Monitor". (FBReader looked good, or as good as it ever does while I was never able to set it to my liking on the A32IT.)
I had about 70% battery left Thursday morning(probably ran 2.5-3.5h Wed mostly with WiFi, etc. off reading.) Used it in the morning browsing the web for about 2h, same low backlight setting, and was at c. 50% charge -> recharged via USB to computer cable attached to nb, took about 2.5h(!). (Optimal power setting.) I had a single hard freeze in DolphinHD, as in it wasn't responding to screen presses, power button, etc. Long pressed power button to shut it down, and restarted it. (It has been fine since.) I set the font size setting from "normal" to "large" as some non-mobile sites the font still was a little small to me, if there was a bold setting I probably could have gone with normal + bold, but... Browsing is MUCH nicer on the A43IT v. A32IT but NOT as nice as gTab.
Used it again as a reader later that afternoon/evening, but left the power setting at Optimal, and started using Aldiko(render italicized text, etc. while FBReader doesn't plus the font looks better).
Compared Aldiko on A32IT v. A43IT, and I can actually get Aldiko to display decently on the A32IT, but it's still a bit small to hold(to me). I also noticed that the touch screen is MUCH better on the A32IT v. A43IT.
A43IT touchscreen so far to me is a bit better than either the Augen GT48 or Pandigital Novel(white), but obviously not as nice to use with fingers as a capacitive screen device, e.g. gTab. Working best for me by using fingernail or stylus(especially scrolling web pages). In reader apps finger presses are fine. There might be a bit of residue from the shipped screen protector as immediately after removing it, the screen felt rough to the finger/nail in some spots and still does after a few cleanings. (The A32IT initially did as well, but now after more than a week feels smooth.)
Build quality: A43IT just doesn't "feel" (or look) as sturdy to me as the A32IT. There is a small but obvious gap where the two halves of the case meet, especially on the side with the uSD & mini-HDMI port. Volume keys are loose, but they are on the A32IT as well, which doesn't really bother me. The power button is a bit small ovoid shape and IS more difficult to operate than the more exposed rectangular buttons on the A32IT & gTab, but not a big problem IMO.
Screen: hmmm... probably a bit better than the gTab as far as viewing angles go, but not as "bright". It looks a bit washed out to me v. gTab or A32IT. I still haven't played video on it yet(or even games) so I'll have to check on that later. (None are as nice as the IPS screen on the Nook Color.)
uSD slot: PITA period. Exposed finger side is UP as you look at the screen and it's a PITA to pop a card out. They left no finger depression, so unless you've got some nails you're going to need something to push the card in and then hope that it pops out enough to grab...
uUSB: I wish that they'd've got miniUSB as these uUSB ports do NOT feel very robust on the A43IT, A32IT, or Nook Color.
Sunny/bright LCD display: A32IT washes out, but it's been overcast here since I received the A43IT and I haven't been anywhere with it that's been extraordinarily bright... ?
hw Buttons: Just power & vol rocker. Home, Menu, Back, and Search are displayed as part of the screen and I'm guessing that they've modified the OS such that they ALWAYs appear at bottom portrait orientation, or right landscape which would explain the odd resolution of 480x854 v. 480x800. The 54 pixels are probably permanently reserved for those button rather than having touch screen(non-display part)/hw buttons like on the gTab or A32IT. These buttons work OK, just a matter of calibrating which I recommend using a stylus to do. (learned this from the A32 as finger calibrating led to Vol +/- hits sometimes v. home, menu, etc. (A32 has physical vol keys PLUS resitive touch +/- vol keys.)).
Games: as mentioned, dunno yet. I haven't tried any and the ones that I'd like to (emulators) would really work better with a bluetooth controller(e.g. wiimote) which I don't have. (I haven't really played any on the gTab either though...)
Physical Overall Size: Still a bit smaller than I'd like, and I'd've preferred a 4:3 screen for it, as it does look really narrow when held in portrait mode, i.e. when used as a reader. It's quite a bit thicker than the A32, and a little thinner than the gTab. (Probably and inch shorter than a paperback and maybe .75" less wide at a guess...)
Weight: MUCH lighter than the gTab, and noticeably heavier than the A32. Probably about the same weight as 2-3 paperback books.
TV Out: dunno. I haven't gottent around to buying/ordering any HDMI cables yet as I really haven't had a need for them... and/or a desire to hook anything up to the TV until now. (Emulators would probably be more fun played on the TV...) I haven't tried the A32 TV out either as I don't have the composite cable and haven't ordered one for it either, and also don't have the dock for the gTab so along with no cables, no HDMI out for it.
Android: pretty well stock Android. As to v. TapnTap dunno, but since I'll be wanting to go to TnT lite 5.0.0 soon, I'll probably be loading TapnTap 3991 today and might try using it for a bit as it's apparently a MAJOR update(2400 quadrant, 40+ fps Nenamark) so the A43IT isn't likely to get much use today unless I decide to try video later tonight.
USB hostmode: No cable for the A32 or A43 and just never bothered on the gTab since it has uSD slot. I'll eventually want a host cable though at least for the A32 since that's the ONLY means of expanding storage via host cable to flahs or other kind of drive... again probably not likely to ever update this here soon as this is yet another cable I haven't ordered/don't have.
bluetooth: actually haven't tested this on any of my tablets yet. I'll try to connect them to my nb over the next few days, but it should just work and beyond that will be do the various tablets have the necessary drivers to support whatever devices...
WiFi: range seems to be a fraction worse than either the A32, Nook Color, or gTab, but better than the Pandigital Novel(white). I'm able to get a 1-2 bar connection outside at what I guess to be about 50' from the router(DLink DIR-615 rev B2, G mode, WEP (have legacy devices that only do B and WEP that I use)) plus misc. (7-8) other neighboring routers that I can see go up and down at various times.
builtin speakers: They're there. They work. They're not as nice as the ones on the gTab or they don't sound as good to me, but thats fine since you can always use headphones(3.5mm jack or bluetooth) if you'd like better. I'd wish that they'd've squeezed in at least one speaker for the A32... (of course I'd've like uSD as well...)
Market: I haven't done that yet, not sure if I will since sleep works rather well right now on both my A32IT & A43IT w/o Google apps installed, which tends to break sleep on some of the other tablets that I have, e.g. I ALWAYS shutdown my gTab v. sleeping it, and do the same with the Pandigital Novel(white)... I have sideloaded some apps that I've downloaded on the gTab from the market to it and it worked, so mostly everything not requiring GPS/phone service should work. That said I have no idea how much of the market they can see as you know every market fix that I've seen so far, some apps show up on one, but not on others AND even then there are apps that just never show up... (tied to various carriers or something I think... not really sure how the market identifies which apps to display for which device...) The market install is supposed to be easy, so I might get around to trying it eventually, but I was really think of leaving it stock and just pulling apps from elsewhere, i.e. gTab -> Titanium backup -> dropbox(or nb, etc.) -> A32/A43
So that's where I'm at. It's decent. Not as snappy as the gTab, but I already knew that this was going to be the case though. The touchscreen is not nearly as nice as the A32IT's, but better than some others. I'm still not sure about the touchscreen and will have to use it some more before deciding on that.
My verdict at this point is not bad. Trifle small yet, and touch screen is not a responsive as I had hoped yet not completely awful. It's the only thing in the just about the right size category for tablets, so not much choice...
[EDIT]
Couple of adds:
offtopic: I see now that the gtab stock 3991 fw isn't OTAing everywhere, roebeet just discovered by checking their ftp site...
benchmarking: no quadrant on the A43IT yet, but my a32IT was getting around 1350(read others get 1300-1600 about 1400 or so average) or so, so I'd expect the A43IT with the overdrive power management option to be a bit higher, but certainly not the 2400+ that we get on the gtab. (I believe that the overdrive option keeps the CPU @ 1GHz, so it should make up for having to push more pixels around on the A43IT's larger display...)
[/EDIT]
Yep, wonder of wonders it unexpectedly got to be actually sunny yesterday afternoon, so I ran out to check the display. Lowest setting is entirely readable, whilst max brightness is barely legible as was to be expected...
Back to touch screen, when I say "difficulties" in browsing what I really meant was how with EVERY resistive touch screen Android device that I've used when attempting to scroll a web page it's either sluggish, "bounces back"(difficult to describe, like when you want to do a small or delicate move and the screen adjusts but removing your finger it jumps back to about where it had been), or wildly scrolls(these are the worst since it is more readily controllable with capacitive screens, but with resistive it seems to be a bit slower to register touches which makes stopping this more difficult).
But as I mentioned in other applications, touching for turn pages or swiping it seems to work better than many, and I've had no problems using the default keyboard. On the A32IT it was more of a matter of size than anything else, i.e. portrait mode the keyboard is nearly useless w/o a fingernail or stylus, and landscape is big enough that if your careful fingers will do but sylus still gives best performance.
Cutterjohn,
Thanks for the great info! Much more than I would've ever expected .
My situation is that I'm still "on the fence". In the past I've "collected" a few tablets, and I guess I'm a bit of a packrat... never got rid of any of them, but I'm trying be more discriminating nowadays, lest my wife starts trying to get me to dump some of them.
The A43 sounds pretty good, and you've covered a lot, which I greatly appreciate. I think I'm a little comfortable w the screen situation, but I'm concerned about the "longevity", esp. the small /system partition, which apparently hasn't been cracked.
I'll keep watching, and maybe if I can find a deal, may just try it if it's too tempting .
Thanks again!
Jim
jimcpl said:
Cutterjohn,
Thanks for the great info! Much more than I would've ever expected .
My situation is that I'm still "on the fence". In the past I've "collected" a few tablets, and I guess I'm a bit of a packrat... never got rid of any of them, but I'm trying be more discriminating nowadays, lest my wife starts trying to get me to dump some of them.
The A43 sounds pretty good, and you've covered a lot, which I greatly appreciate. I think I'm a little comfortable w the screen situation, but I'm concerned about the "longevity", esp. the small /system partition, which apparently hasn't been cracked.
I'll keep watching, and maybe if I can find a deal, may just try it if it's too tempting .
Thanks again!
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
np. I'm hoping that the screen is just a matter of getting used to using a resistive screen with a finger.
I've got an old pocketpc case which is fits into. It's perfect heightwise, but the A43 is MUCH thinner and narrower than the old pocketpcs were, but it also has a little pocket which I stick a stylus into and enough extra space to put some earbuds in with it as well and not damage the screen... so I'll always have the stylus around with it.
As a side note about the screen a user in a thread on archosfans suggested people download an app called DrawNoteK(simple drawing app), which I did and it seemed to track my finger pretty well and the stylus/fingernail better of course. I'm pretty much of the opinion that resistive screen problems are just a matter of them reading more contact area(multiple locations) when using a finger v. a fingernail/stylus which has a much smaller point of contact. After all all of the old PDAs used to come default with a stylus...
app storage: yep, still stuck at I guess where they had it originally. I think that it MIGHT be possible to manually change it but I haven't looked into it too much. I've hardly use any app storage space on any of my tablets so far. [EDIT2] Another problem with increasing storage in stock fw is that devices like my A32IT and the A28IT have no other memory expansion options, other than USB host. My A32IT IIRC w/stock fw 2.1.08 had a little over 6GB available for media, and I've already used half of that or more... Iwouldn't mind giving up another 300MB for apps, but not the 2GB that many people wanted who had 43, 70, or 101s. [/EDIT2]
longevity: well, Archos'll probably have their gen9 this fall with a cortex-a9 and maybe more memory. (So I'm kind of on the fence about keeping the A43, but I still have a few weeks to return it to Amazon... just want try it some more and see if any of my quibbles end up as deal killers with lengthier usage... I'm just still not entirely sure about the touch screen.)
[EDIT]
...and I played some video streamed from my notebook last night uPnP(mediatomb) which worked OK and looked pretty good on the A43IT's display. The kickstand seems to be kind of a useless "feature" on this though, and feels pretty flimsy(semi-rigid plastic). Likely the stand will be one of the first things to get broken accidentally, but I'll probably never use it again...
[/EDIT]
[EDIT3]
Forgot to mention this above, and I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but Archos have an additional fw available which is a version of the Angstrom linux distro... voids the warranty though, so I won't be trying it unless I decide to keep it in the end, and then I'll wait a year for the warranty to expire...
[/EDIT3]
minor update:
I've started to get some FCs with various apps, nothing horrible/continuous like I got with early versions of stock gtab fw, but worrisome.
Got one yesterday after running the camera app, and had one the day before but I didn't really pay attention to what it was as it didn't re-appear but since getting one from the camera app will be paying more attention. I suppose that it could possibly be a low memory condition sine Archos chose a subpar 256MB RAM spec... and yes I usually use system monitor to kill just about everything periodically... Limited memory is just another reason to NOT install Google apps & market as many of those seem to want to be permanently in RAM...
I suppose that I need to look into this some more, and additionally use the A32 more often to see if it starts occuring there as well, since they're basically the same hw... also need to do some research as I quite like the A43 form factor(little wider would've been nice) and there's nothing comparable ATM... (nor will there be apparently, as I have no doubt that Samsung will continue their egregious pricing practices with their player... you'd think that they had Apple, Motorola, or Sony quality & support levels with their pricing!)
gTab stock 3588 fw wasn't too bad, MUCH snappier and stable than the earlier ones... installed this on my way to TnT lite 5.0.0...
Hi,
I've been reading the stuff about the Samsung Player also. The 5" is the one I'd be interested, but I want to see how locked down it is/will be.
Jim
jimcpl said:
Hi,
I've been reading the stuff about the Samsung Player also. The 5" is the one I'd be interested, but I want to see how locked down it is/will be.
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
glad that you have excessive amounts of cash to spend on low quality korean junk... (face it, they're not worth their asking price, if they halved it maybe...)
anyways Archos is now being frog junk, incapable of connecting via ssh/scp/sftp w/o FCing likely the dimwitted decision to go with a "whopping" 256MB of RAM... an excessively moronically low amount of RAM given how relatively "cheap" it is nowadays, but go figure out frogs...
buh-bye archos junk... (sad but these POS are going out with the trash like they are...)
F--- for frog crap Archos
[EDIT]
OK, at least for the A32 a reboot -> I now can xfer stuff again momentarily, but my gods what a POS hack job on android with such monumental memory leaks that cause it to fail after running for a while... what sort of monumental midget intellects decided to try to phail hack Android?! i.e. Archos Android == memory leaking POS...
@Jim better off spending $400 on another good gTab rather than an overpriced toy regardless of form factor... hell, even the Nook Color does better for almost half the price although it's 7"... just wonder when B&N are going to get off the pot and cough up their updates sine ATM they've seemed to've managed to pissoff all their attracted devs for apps for their mythical appstore... (they missed ALL update targets for Q1 2011 so far and only a couple of weeks left to make up for it... but maybe they can now publish a book about how NOT to start an app store for everyone else...)
[/EDIT]
I didn't realize, until doing further searching, how much the Samsung Player was estimated to be priced . They haven't announced pricing yet, but it sounds like th $400 range (shock!).
More waiting ...
Jim
P.S. Sorry about you problem w A43, but thx for posting that info.
I've been reading for quite awhile because I got myself one (it's still on the way to me, so no hands on yet). I got it mainly because it's a Nexus and I'm done with those 3rd modifications on top of vanilla.
However, I'm getting really mixed comments from all of you guys. Some said it's really nice, some said it's the worst tablet. Although things are always going back to people's own preference but from what I read, 4.2.2 did give lotsa headaches to users mainly because of leaked memory and so.
So users, can you give me your truthful comments from both pros and cons? I can only get the device by next week and after that, it will be my time to list out my very own pros and cons.
Thanks and cheers!
Nexus4 modded with cyanogen.
Yeah, you better cancel your order because some random a holes on the internet did not like something.
Well, the problem is, I can't. Plus, I'm still quite skeptical about the reboots and I have faith that it will be fixed with the update soon.
Are you one of the users?
I'm definitely ok with a bit of problems and it gives me perfect reason to root and tweak it on myself although some do claim that, it should work perfectly fine out of the box.
Nexus4 modded with cyanogen.
I'm running stock and can definitely say that the surfaceflinger memory exists. It becomes obvious when you play multiple videos (streaming or video files). When you do other activities this bug is not readily apparent.
I also from time to time get random WiFi disconnects, which are easily fixed by toggling the WiFi off/on. With that being said I really like my N10 and am using it for more than I expected when I bought it. The display resolution, I/O speed and CPU are all outstanding.
At least the memory leak can be fixed and I read that the surfaceflinger driver developer already has it ready. This gives me hope that Android 4.3 will include the fix. The N10 used as a media consumption device is very good/excellent. I am not disappointed with my purchase.
My laptop at the about same price point (after including N10 accessories) has not been turned on in over three months. All my news reading has move from my desktop PC to the N10. I was surprised at how smooth that transition went.
The only thing that really bothered me about the Nexus 10 is how it could throttle and lower CPU clocks under general usage (general being like playing a game). But then again, the Nexus 4 also does this...
Aside from that though, I find the N10 pretty awesome
The light bleed at the bottom right is the only thing that has bothered me much, but that's because the threads here pointed it out and turned on an OCD switch in me. After almost a month, I had my first two reboots last night, both while watching an hourlong streaming video from a TV network site (using Firefox with Flash). Other than that, couldn't be happier with my N10.
3DSammy said:
I'm running stock and can definitely say that the surfaceflinger memory exists. It becomes obvious when you play multiple videos (streaming or video files). When you do other activities this bug is not readily apparent.
I also from time to time get random WiFi disconnects, which are easily fixed by toggling the WiFi off/on. With that being said I really like my N10 and am using it for more than I expected when I bought it. The display resolution, I/O speed and CPU are all outstanding.
At least the memory leak can be fixed and I read that the surfaceflinger driver developer already has it ready. This gives me hope that Android 4.3 will include the fix. The N10 used as a media consumption device is very good/excellent. I am not disappointed with my purchase.
My laptop at the about same price point (after including N10 accessories) has not been turned on in over three months. All my news reading has move from my desktop PC to the N10. I was surprised at how smooth that transition went.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
espionage724 said:
The only thing that really bothered me about the Nexus 10 is how it could throttle and lower CPU clocks under general usage (general being like playing a game). But then again, the Nexus 4 also does this...
Aside from that though, I find the N10 pretty awesome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JasW said:
The light bleed at the bottom right is the only thing that has bothered me much, but that's because the threads here pointed it out and turned on an OCD switch in me. After almost a month, I had my first two reboots last night, both while watching an hourlong streaming video from a TV network site (using Firefox with Flash). Other than that, couldn't be happier with my N10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the thing that I always talk about. It's a nexus and all problems will be solved for sure by Google itself. With such a good display as well as the A15 architecture proc, it's really a beast and let alone the pure vanilla android.
People are a little bit over exaggerated about the bug, IMO. We receive the newest version and bugs are bearable with me. At least buyers should be aware of the firmware is always the latest which might be a little big buggy. Few positive comments over here are really making my day.
Another thing that bothered me is available RAM. Google states the tablet has 2GB of RAM, which is true (there is 2GB worth of RAM chips installed on the motherboard technically). Before 4.2.2, about 400MB was reserved specifically for the GPU, which is the largest amount of RAM I've seen on any Android device, so that left 1.6GB usable. Not that bad, and it still rounded to 2GB (most other devices though to be fair take like 200-300MB; but the N10 is driving a pretty beefy resolution)
WIth 4.2.2, the RAM reserved for the GPU doubled to 800-some MB (836?). So now the total RAM that the user can use on their own is 1.2GB. No longer nearly close to 2GB.
I guess nothing can really be done about it now, but I don't understand why there just isn't dedicated memory just for the GPU, or why Google doesn't just advertise how much RAM is actually available to use. This isn't an issue at all on most other devices, since the missing memory is usually a small amount, but when almost half of the advertised RAM is missing and not even user-configurable (most computers with IGPs sharing system memory at least let you specify how much you want to dedicated to it)... I find that pretty shady :/
On the other hand, I don't have any out-of-memory problems though (aside from the surfaceflinger thing), so it doesn't seem to be an "actual" issue.
I haven't really noticed anything wrong with my nexus 10 I think its great and fast. Also 4.3 is going to be released soon which should fix any software related issues and make it even smoother . I don't use my tablet as much as others might so maybe that's why I don't notice anything wrong. I generally use it 2-3 hours a day and the only thing I hat is the charging time which feels like forever and that it has a phablet ui rather than tablet look which wastes a little screen space. What they should do is get rid of notification bar and combine it with Nav bar like other tablets
Sent from my Xperia Play (r800x)
abdel12345 said:
... What they should do is get rid of notification bar and combine it with Nav bar like other tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use full!screen and LMT/PIE and get all the screen resolution back (full 2560x1600). full!screen gets rid of both bars and provides a notifications pop-up while LMT/PIE can be configured with all the navigation buttons plus much more. I've been using that combination on rooted stock for months now and would never go back to the waste of space that either bar takes.
I like the clean AOSP browser in fullscreen mode plus thumb controls but it does not always paint properly when used with full!screen (artifacts where the navigation bar used to be). I switched to Ocean browser which is really AOSP with a new UI and that fixed the fullscreen paint issue.
3DSammy said:
Use full!screen and LMT/PIE and get all the screen resolution back (full 2560x1600). full!screen gets rid of both bars and provides a notifications pop-up while LMT/PIE can be configured with all the navigation buttons plus much more. I've been using that combination on rooted stock for months now and would never go back to the waste of space that either bar takes.
I like the clean AOSP browser in fullscreen mode plus thumb controls but it does not always paint properly when used with full!screen (artifacts where the navigation bar used to be). I switched to Ocean browser which is really AOSP with a new UI and that fixed the fullscreen paint issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome thanks a lot man I'll try that out
Sent from my Xperia Play (r800x)
billy_overheat said:
Here's the thing that I always talk about. It's a nexus and all problems will be solved for sure by Google itself. With such a good display as well as the A15 architecture proc, it's really a beast and let alone the pure vanilla android.
People are a little bit over exaggerated about the bug, IMO. We receive the newest version and bugs are bearable with me. At least buyers should be aware of the firmware is always the latest which might be a little big buggy. Few positive comments over here are really making my day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can deal with random reboots don't worry about it. It really is something that depends on use. Watching YouTube via chrome will exacerbate the reboots. The actual app doesn't seem to eat the memory. However for my use I can't have it rebooting in the middle of a meeting or trying to dial into work so it has become something of a paperweight. I know how to consume the memory and how to avoid it but it will still eventually reboot. If your using it for goof off purposes instead of productivity you'll be fine. Also, please don't be an Android/Google apologist. They've had 6 months to fix the issue. And they don't market it as a device with buggy firmware that will reboot. If they called it Nexus 10 developer edition I'd agree with you.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
billy_overheat said:
So users, can you give me your truthful comments from both pros and cons? I can only get the device by next week and after that, it will be my time to list out my very own pros and cons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pros:
- Highest resolution tablet on the market, nobody else comes close, even latest iPad has 25% less pixels. I had a Thunderbolt display at work last year and loved working with so much screen real-estate, well, this tablet has even more pixels in 10" than that display had in 27".
- First Android device with beefy Cortex A15 CPU, the Exynos 5 Dual, still the only tablet on the market with A15.
- I actually like the build, fairly thin and I like the sticky material on back.
- For $500 for 32 GB, the one I got, you won't find any device with such high-end specs.
- Android 4.2.2 is usually fairly snappy, sometimes I go back and forth between the home screen and the application drawer just to see the snazzy zoom-in/zoom-out animation and how fast it is.
Each one of these comes with drawbacks however.
Cons:
- You want a high resolution, you have to pay for it with power draw. The display consistently accounts for about 60% of battery usage, even though I keep the brightness at about 30% under light and dial it down to the lowest setting in a dark room. The colors are good but a bit washed out, particularly when compared to an iPad. I wish it had a matte display like my Zenbook, as the glossy display does catch reflections, but I'm not sure that's possible for a tablet.
- The Exynos 5 CPU takes more power than it should and runs somewhat hot. Not as hot as the Tegra 3 in my HOX+, but fairly warm.
- I was surprised how heavy 1.3 lbs felt from the first time I held it. The battery in this thing is huge, 9Ah, compared to 2-3 Ah in most current flagship phones, like the One or S4. It probably had to be so big with that power-sucking display and CPU, but it adds weight.
- The build is a bit creaky and sometimes feels like you have to snap particular pieces back into place, probably to be expected at this cheap price.
- Android still has times when it starts lagging and everything you do takes a second or two to register. These slowdowns often come out of the blue and you're never sure what's going on. This is a mobile OS, so prepare to be frustrated when apps are backgrounded and cached data is lost, particularly if you're expecting something closer to desktop performance because of the specs. The known memory leak in 4.2.2 exacerbates this problem.
I'm happy with my Nexus 10, as I enjoy the high resolution and don't use it anywhere as much as my ultrabook. Now that I know about the memory leak, I may start trying to use it for web reading again, which I had to give up on because it was unusable when Chrome would start reloading every page for no reason. Now I know to reboot when that starts happening, so I at least have a workaround till they fix it.
I love the tablet, for the way I use it - which may be considered light use by most here - it is perfect. The memory issue is real there is no doubt about that. But it is also easily avoided. I reboot my N10 with a tasker profile once during the night and that is that. However I game on it very rarely and use it mostly for streaming movies or just browing the web. One reboot each night seems to be enough to not make these issues appear.
Having said that I have none of the other reported issues, no random reboots or whacky Wifi - I turn Wifi off when the tablet is not in use - but I am also running SentinelRom which seems to be ironing out a lot of the smaller issues. With this ROM scrolling for example has become a silky smooth affair.
Battery life is excellent, much better than the boards make it out to be. I rarely use the N10 with brightness above 25% because it is already so bright on that setting there is no need for it. There may be light bleed - hey it's an LCD after all! - but I never notice any the way I use it. The display is gorgeous in every way, shape and form and I really really like the fact that putting it on lowest brightness makes it really dark. This is perfect for using it in bed at night without getting eye cancer.
With the POGO charger the tablet even has decent charging speed.
Regarding build quality I cannot complain at all. My tablet is not creaky in the least. I had a TF101 which was way worse. I mostly use it with a Poetic smart cover and couldn't be happier. The weight is of course noticeable, but then again this is 10 inches of hardware, it will never feel light as a feather.
Still there are some undeniable software issues still present. The memory leak being one, some issues with scrolling (except when using SentinelRom) being another. But I have yet to see the "perfect" android device which so far does not exist. Google still has a lot of work to do.
rxnelson said:
If you can deal with random reboots don't worry about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not getting the random reboots you speak of. Use my tablet 3-4 hours per day, sometimes more, and do not recall having 1 reboot. AOSP browser closures, yes, though with newer versions not as much. Have 2 Nexus 10 tablets, one stock, one sw display itching between SaberMod and Buttered AOKP.
Had both theTF101 and TF700. Went with the ASUS because of it's IPS+ display and SD card slot. 5 weeks after receiving, had to send it in for charging issues..oneof my main problems with the TF101. For the slight amount of money more for the Nexus 10, it is a much better option. Check out Swappa.com-can typically get a slightly used Nexus 10 for a really good price
mpicasso said:
Not getting the random reboots you speak of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You left out my next sentence. It depends on use. I can duplicate the surfaceflinger issue with eventual reboot on stock CM, buttered AOKP, and rasbean. Obviously we use the tablet differently.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
rxnelson said:
You left out my next sentence. It depends on used. I can duplicate the surfaceflinger issue with eventual reboot on stock CM, buttered AOKP, and rasbean. Obviously we use the tablet differently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also left out the statement that got me to post originally: "However for my use I can't have it rebooting in the middle of a meeting or trying to dial into work so it mass become something of a paperweight." As the OP was curious about the reliability of this tablet, I wanted to offer a different perspective.
As a tablet for business, I use it for surfing (quote obtained from website, along with any needed client info), note taking, power point and excel, E-mail, along with a few other things. In a given day, I may spend 3-4 hours, while in client homes, using my tablet. So yes, we may use these differently, but for any "business" function I have thrown at it, it works fine. I also do not do many video presentations, which may explain why I do not experience the same issues as you.
This might help people eyeing the Z4 Tablet, but are unsure of what positives and negatives there are. Of course, this is highly subjective, but this is my list. It's influenced by my personal competing choices which were the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 and the Google Pixel C. I'm happy I chose the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet.
Pros:
Fast SoC (Qualcomm Snapdragon 810)
This is Qualcomm's 2015 flagship SoC and from what I've experienced it's really fast. Android flies. It also runs 64-bit, which it should anyway, but for example Samsung's Tab S2 doesn't. I don't know about the graphical performance as I don't really play games.
'Compatible' SoC (Qualcomm Snapdragon 810)
This opens up the way for optimized-for-specific-SoC apps (like RSBrowser, which is Snapdragon-optimized and significantly faster than stock Chrome/Chromium) and CyanogenMod support, that need documentation/drivers. For example, Samsung's (faster) Exynos SoC's are a black box for developers, which makes things like this very hard and has the result of devs abandoning it.
Big internal storage (32GB)
32GB is plenty of storage for apps and a reasonable amount of media. But that can be stored on the microSD.
microSD capability (up to 128GB)
This is a major benefit for a media consumption device like this, which many devices don't have.
Good multitasking
I could have mentioned 3GB RAM, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Multitasking on the Z4 is pretty darn good. It swtiches quickly and is generally very snappy. My Samsung Galaxy S6 with 3GB RAM has pretty bad RAM management in comparison. I'm still trying to find a custom kernel for it that keeps the phone snappy after 2 days.
Huge screen solution, high ppi on a big screen
2560x1600, 299ppi. On a big 10.1 inch screen. This is wonderful.
16:10 aspect ratio screen
Which is good for widescreen content like movies and dSLR photo's. 16:10 also beats 16:9 for me because of the added screen height.
Screen has natural, accurate colors
Very subjective, but compared to several other screens I've found this one to be superior.
Front facing stereo speakers
A rare thing among Android devices. Good design choice.
Lightweight (~390gr), thin
It's pleasantly light to hold.
NFC, notification LED, GPS, vibration motor
These features are often overlooked, but are important to me. I use NFC for LastPass, the (multicolor!) LED with LightFlow to see what exactly is asking my attention when in standby, vibration to still be notified when I want the tablet to be silent and GPS for the occasional navigation need or social app check-in.
Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0
Another nice bonus, which isn't mentioned much. Quick Charge makes a major difference to charging speed. Needs a compatible charger though.
Big battery (6000mAh)
Can't yet say battery life is amazing, because I'm using it a lot and crank the screen brightness up quite high so don't know what to expect. Reviewers seem to agree it's great though.
Bootloader can be unlocked (so the road is open for rooting)
No waiting for an exploit if you're OK with going this route. Just follow Sony's instructions and you'll have root in no time.
Marshmallow announced
Should come January '16 I heard, but these things always get delayed :| At least it's coming.
AOSP commitment by Sony
Sony's Open Device Program is nice and all, but their sources are a bit troublesome and don't seem to produce functional ROMs. Still, Sony's stance on it might bode well for future things.
Water-/dustproof
I don't care much myself, but it's a nice bonus. At least it takes some worries away (dropping liquids on it, no fear for dust particles between the screen and the glass).
Keyboard dock option
Nice for when you want to use a physical keyboard that is fully compatible and is also attachable. I use a 3rd party BT keyboard, but I'm constantly fighting with fixing incompatible button mapping stuff.
Important root-specific things that work
These things are not guaranteed to work or be available on any rooted device, and are pretty major in adding possibilities, so I consider them pros to be working on the Z4T:
Xposed Framework
For most people anyway (Some are having issues). This is a thing to be happy about, because if it didn't, chances are it wouldn't be fixed anytime soon because of the small user/dev base. Xposed opens up many possibilities which really enhance a device. To me it's a selling point.
Native KCAL support
Another Qualcomm exclusive. I believe this is actually fully present on the stock ROM, but not fully controllable (limited to RGB in the Settings menu). KCAL support enables you to tweak various image parameters, like RGB, saturation and contrast with a tool like Color Control or Kernel Adiutor. It's pretty great and you don't see it often.
Cons:
SoC might overheat in extreme circumstances
Haven't had any problems myself, and I stress the tablet pretty hard, but I've read some reports about issues. At least of a guy bringing the tablet to the beach. It's mostly just people saying it's fine, even with heavy usage.
Speakers are lacking in bass
No surprise, but it's still a letdown.
Bad low-light camera performance, no flash
Picture quality in low light is disturbingly bad. Having no flash makes this unusable in those situations. Not a big deal for me personally, I don't take pics with a tablet.
Screen isn't that bright
Compared to several others, the screen isn't that bright and needs to be cranked up pretty much, even indoors. Outdoors, this is a problem. The big screen reflectiveness doesn't help either. Indoors it fine, it just that the needed high brightness level eats battery.
Screen lacks deep blacks
This is compared to (S)AMOLED, specifically. Those screen blacks are amazing and darker colors are also good for battery on those screens. IPS screens just don't have that. Using dark themes won't help battery life on the Z4T, it may even be worse with them.
Stock charger isn't Quick Charge 2.0
Come on, Sony.
No hardware navigation buttons
This is a real PITA for me because this requires Android's soft keys / navigation bar which take up valuable screen space. This is especially problematic in landscape mode on this 16:10 ratio in which you'll want every screen height you can get. Fortunately, this can be overcome by tools like GMD Full Screen Immersive Mode (with full screen keyboard typing restrictions so you'll have to switch back to type :S) combined with All in One Gestures, both of which don't reqquire root. Better yet is a build.prop edit that declares to Android the tablet has hardware buttons, removing the soft keys entirely, while keeping the ability to type anywhere. I navigate using All in One Gestures, because GMD GestureControl sometimes stops working. Which isn't very nice when you don't have navigation keys
No user-land root exploit (yet)
Because of this, you'll need to unlock the bootloader to gain root access. Which will destroy your TA partition, which will in turn remove Sony-proprietary functions. Which I personally don't use and don't see much use for anyway. Also, unlocked bootloader can't be undone without Sony noticing, so as a non-EU citizen you'll possibly have warranty issues.
Small user/dev community
Not many people own a Z4 Tablet (bad availability in the US and it's expensive) and because of this, there's next to no development for it. Luckily, we have @AndroPlus who's made a custom kernel and ported TWRP (which unfortunately has a bug that keeps us from restoring the system partition from a backup). @DHGE worked on root, which made it possible in the end I think. Still, custom ROMs would be nice. Also, if you run into device-specific problems, there's not many others that can help, because you're either the only one or one of very few who have that problem.
It's expensive
The price is very high and a bit hard to justify.
What I miss:
Wireless charging
This is sooo convenient. It also spares the precious MicroUSB port, which is used for charging, data-transfer, USB-OTG and adb/fastboot. If it breaks, you're done.
Removable battery
Batteries do not have eternal life, so eventually it will be completely dead. Which will render the tablet dead as well.
Any thoughts, questions, additions or critique is welcome.
jelbo said:
[*]Small user/dev community
Not many people own a Z4 Tablet (bad availability in the US and it's expensive) and because of this, there's next to no development for it. Luckily, we have @AndroPlus who's made a custom kernel and ported TWRP (which unfortunately had a bug that keeps us from restoring the system partition from a backup). @DHGE worked on root, which made it possible in the end I think. Still, custom ROMs would be nice. Also, if you run into device-specific problems, there's not many others that can help, because you're either the only one or one of very few that have that problem.
.
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Hello jelbo. Let's discuss about it. First of all, our tablet is not alone with some sort of problem. z3+ and z5 devices are the same story. I don't really understand how can we have aosp sources but not to have its rom. So what the problem, some building problem, or is it true that aosp roms works without working sensors? People give different feedback. Did you try some aosp rom? I just want to cook aosp rom in ubuntu.
alex009988 said:
Hello jelbo. Let's discuss about it. First of all, our tablet is not alone with some sort of problem. z3+ and z5 devices are the same story.
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Yes, they're similar. Which actually makes me think about a positive point as development for those devices can also benefit Z4T owners. For example @[NUT]'s efforts may eventually reach us, or when an Xperia user-land exploit is found, it will likely be shared among different devices.
I don't really understand how can we have aosp sources but not to have its rom. So what the problem, some building problem, or is it true that aosp roms works without working sensors? People give different feedback. Did you try some aosp rom? I just want to cook aosp rom in ubuntu.
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I'm not too sure about the reasons, but what I've seen is that 1) the Sony sources are/have been a bit buggy/messy 2) not many people compile ROMs from it (I've only seen 2 XDA users and the FXP Team).
I haven't yet dared to flash any AOSP build because I've been too busy on getting stock rooted to my liking and troubleshooting my Xposed issues and I don't want to interrupt that. It seems to be quite easy to flash ROMs though, it's either a TWRP flashable .zip, Flashtool flashable .tft or fastboot flashable .bin files.
I'm also curious about the mixed reports about 'sensor stuff not working' and 'everything works fine' on Sony-sourced AOSP builds, but so far no-one has answered my or your questions about it. Seems we'll have too find out ourselves at some point Best leave that part of questions and discussion in their respective threads to keep things organized.
Nice summary, thanks for the effort; its clear and concise.
jelbo said:
it's either a TWRP flashable .zip,
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I think free xperia team jeer at us cause twrp has a serious bug and it can't flash any roms for the time being whereas we can see exactly .zips at their site.
Interesting, had they even tested themselves what they uploaded
jelbo said:
Yes, they're similar. Which actually makes me think about a positive point as development for those devices can also benefit Z4T owners. For example @[NUT]'s efforts may eventually reach us, or when an Xperia user-land exploit is found, it will likely be shared among different devices.
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Click to collapse
I've put XZDualRecovery on 'feature freeze' for 2.8 well over a year ago, because it needs some work to keep it working on the ever changing Android eco-system. As a consequence, I also stopped adding devices to the supported devices list. For XZDR 2.9 things will change and I will start adding devices again, remember that I am just on my own, from time to time I have a helper but they generally drop out after a while and I'm on my own again after that... I have a busy real life and a very busy job, which consumes most of my energy, leaving only little amounts of it for use on the XZDR development unfortunately... and I have big plans with it which I'd rather deploy sooner then later.
As security features increase, so do the difficulties to keep XZDR working properly... For the Z3+/Z4/Z5/M4 Aqua it is dm-verity, which throws a tantrum once the system partition is modified, which in turn causes a reboot (and with that a bootloop). This behavior has hampered the Stock Based custom ROM development and made it generally impossible to root the device...
A backup-ta with a built-in root exploit (similar to the XZDR installer) to allow a backup of the TA partition would kick-start the development for these models. People don't mind unlocking their devices but do mind losing their warranty on a 500-700 euro device... so most of them wait for the possibility to backup their TA partition.
Oh, and to actually participate in this topic:
I have to say the Z4 tablet takes my fancy and tics just about all the boxes of things I like about tablets... I own a Xperia Tablet Z, well, the misses has it now and I can 'occasionally' touch it :silly: and I have been looking for a new tablet to actually use myself
I don't have the funds to purchase a TabZ4, but I would really like to have one with the keyboard dock
[NUT] said:
Oh, and to actually participate in this topic:
I have to say the Z4 tablet takes my fancy and tics just about all the boxes of things I like about tablets... I own a Xperia Tablet Z, well, the misses has it now and I can 'occasionally' touch it :silly: and I have been looking for a new tablet to actually use myself
I don't have the funds to purchase a TabZ4, but I would really like to have one with the keyboard dock
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Hello. Thanks for participating our thread. Tab Z4 is a great device with cool hardware, but it is less developed in comparison with Samsung to my regret. All we want for this moment are a fix of bug for twrp, problem with mounting the system, and some customs roms. And the very big dream is cyanogenmod of course
@jelbo, where in NL do you live? Did you root your TabZ4 yet?
---------- Post added at 02:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:26 PM ----------
alex009988 said:
Hello. Thanks for participating our thread. Tab Z4 is a great device with cool hardware, but it is less developed in comparison with Samsung to my regret. All we want for this moment are a fix of bug for twrp, problem with mounting the system, and some customs roms. And the very big dream is cyanogenmod of course
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Well, I am assuming that custom ROM's will come as soon as there is a viable way to flash them
I wonder why @AndroPlus wasn't able to fix the TWRP mount issues yet...
alex009988 said:
Hello. Thanks for participating our thread. Tab Z4 is a great device with cool hardware, but it is less developed in comparison with Samsung to my regret. All we want for this moment are a fix of bug for twrp, problem with mounting the system, and some customs roms. And the very big dream is cyanogenmod of course
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Click to collapse
I'm pretty confident CM will support the 'karin' at some point. Many other Sony phones/tablets are officially supported.
[NUT] said:
@jelbo, where in NL do you live? Did you root your TabZ4 yet?
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I'll tell you in a PM Yeah, I've unlocked my bootloader and rooted it. I couldn't restrain myself anymore It's so much better now. Just some littles gripes left that'll be fixed sooner or later.
Well, I am assuming that custom ROM's will come as soon as there is a viable way to flash them
I wonder why @AndroPlus wasn't able to fix the TWRP mount issues yet...
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Time restraints, who knows? He did post a v11 version of the kernel some days ago though @dl12345 who greatly helped him getting TWRP to work, may be able to fix it, but he hasn't been around. You can follow some technical details about it in the AndroPlusKernel thread.
It's just /system/ that cannot be restored though. Which is bad, but you can get out of a bad situation pretty quickly with restoring /data/ and using Helium/Titanium Backup, I think. Unless you really fried the ROM and need your /system/ back, then you can only go the flashtool route now
jelbo said:
I'm pretty confident CM will support the 'karin' at some point. Many other Sony phones/tablets are officially supported.
I'll tell you in a PM Yeah, I've unlocked my bootloader and rooted it. I couldn't restrain myself anymore It's so much better now. Just some littles gripes left that'll be fixed sooner or later.
Time restraints, who knows? He did post a v11 version of the kernel some days ago though @dl12345 who greatly helped him getting TWRP to work, may be able to fix it, but he hasn't been around. You can follow some technical details about it in the AndroPlusKernel thread.
It's just /system/ that cannot be restored though. Which is bad, but you can get out of a bad situation pretty quickly with restoring /data/ and using Helium/Titanium Backup, I think. Unless you really fried the ROM and need your /system/ back, then you can only go the flashtool route now
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* [NUT] pokes @AndroPlus to join this conversation.
Due to lack of time on my side to read the entire topic, what exactly fails when restoring system?
@jelbo, do you have his kernel installed (a.k.a. have you unlocked your bootloader)?
[NUT] said:
* [NUT] pokes @AndroPlus to join this conversation.
Due to lack of time on my side to read the entire topic, what exactly fails when restoring system?
@jelbo, do you have his kernel installed (a.k.a. have you unlocked your bootloader)?
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Yes and yes. Basically anyone here who's rooted their tablet is running AndoPlusKernel and have manually unlocked their bootloader.
jelbo said:
Yes and yes. Basically anyone here who's rooted their tablet is running AndoPlusKernel and have manually unlocked their bootloader.
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I see, that un-complicates testing a lot
Gotta say... amazing tablet all together and the first device that i havent seen the mighty snapdragon handwarmer throttle from heat in. I kept roasting it for about 3 hours with simpleplanes and PC minecraft (boardwalk app) and it didnt lose any performance just got a bit hot on the back middle. I find the battery life to be good enough for a day of being on and off watching youtube and occasional gaming but i do keep screen brightness on auto at all times and features such as BT NFC and GPS off. Also a app that i think the tablet should have from factory: OGYoutube, you can have floating resizeable youtube above other apps or play in background or with screen off and download in mp4 or mp3.
I'd picked up a Z4T about 4 months ago to replace two different devices, my aging and finally dead cell phone (I hung on to my old Samsung S3 for way too long), and my laptop, which is a still functional but extraordinarily heavy beast of a 17" macbook - about 6 years old on its own as well. What can I say, they were still working so why buy new?
I have to say I'm very glad I made the purchase. I picked up a SBH52 handset to make phone calls more convenient, and splurged on the sony docking kb for the added ruggedness of using it as a "case" - which it does like a champ. Calls are nice and clear, and I've had pretty much no troubles - aside from some occasional static when using the handset (which I owe to the handset itself being a bit flaky). Even with an unlocked BL, remote play on my PS4 still works, only the Bravia screen mirroring to my TV is kaput. It serves very well as a laptop for those like me that need something lightweight for overnight trips, let with a big enough screen to be able to remote desktop troubleshoot back to the main office.
Would this replace every computer I own? Obviously not. I still own a high end desktop for videos, games, and intense word processing (the sony kb is just a bit small if you were attempting to write a novel for example); and my PS4 for console games; but for light end use and for traveling, it's almost the perfect laptop replacement. And as a combo cellphone laptop? I couldn't ask for better. My overall data usage has also dropped, because I'm using far more wireless on this device (I want to make sure it's connected for the stability if nothing else), but I can always drop out to a cell connection if no wireless is available - or if I don't feel like paying the stupid prices at the hotel the convention is being held at.
Now for the Cons:
I've really only got two, one of which was mentioned here. The damn thing is not cheap. Since I live in the states, the LTE version is not available directly. You need to pick up an international version from amazon or another reputable source. Hence the reason I have a kb with extra non-english symbols on it. Not that I mind, but it confuses some people when they look at it. When I picked mine up, the tablet kb and handset ran about $900 US all together. so not something you want to accidentally brick, or drop, or leave behind in a restaurant....
The second one is convenience. Given that it is a tablet - and a fairly large one, most people aren't going to go the phone replacement route like I did. You can't exactly just slip it into your pants pocket. And since the handset is BT, you can't exactly leave the tablet in the car and just use the handset inside most restaurants either (unless you park really close to the building). I'll often leave mine at home if all I do is run to the store for a dozen eggs or something, just because it's easier not to pack it up. But then half an hour of being unconnected and out of touch doesn't bother me - it might bother some though.
So there you have it, a much less technical review, from yet another satisfied user.
begalund said:
I'd picked up a Z4T about 4 months ago to replace two different devices, my aging and finally dead cell phone (I hung on to my old Samsung S3 for way too long), and my laptop, which is a still functional but extraordinarily heavy beast of a 17" macbook - about 6 years old on its own as well. What can I say, they were still working so why buy new?
I have to say I'm very glad I made the purchase. I picked up a SBH52 handset to make phone calls more convenient, and splurged on the sony docking kb for the added ruggedness of using it as a "case" - which it does like a champ. Calls are nice and clear, and I've had pretty much no troubles - aside from some occasional static when using the handset (which I owe to the handset itself being a bit flaky). Even with an unlocked BL, remote play on my PS4 still works, only the Bravia screen mirroring to my TV is kaput. It serves very well as a laptop for those like me that need something lightweight for overnight trips, let with a big enough screen to be able to remote desktop troubleshoot back to the main office.
Would this replace every computer I own? Obviously not. I still own a high end desktop for videos, games, and intense word processing (the sony kb is just a bit small if you were attempting to write a novel for example); and my PS4 for console games; but for light end use and for traveling, it's almost the perfect laptop replacement. And as a combo cellphone laptop? I couldn't ask for better. My overall data usage has also dropped, because I'm using far more wireless on this device (I want to make sure it's connected for the stability if nothing else), but I can always drop out to a cell connection if no wireless is available - or if I don't feel like paying the stupid prices at the hotel the convention is being held at.
Now for the Cons:
I've really only got two, one of which was mentioned here. The damn thing is not cheap. Since I live in the states, the LTE version is not available directly. You need to pick up an international version from amazon or another reputable source. Hence the reason I have a kb with extra non-english symbols on it. Not that I mind, but it confuses some people when they look at it. When I picked mine up, the tablet kb and handset ran about $900 US all together. so not something you want to accidentally brick, or drop, or leave behind in a restaurant....
The second one is convenience. Given that it is a tablet - and a fairly large one, most people aren't going to go the phone replacement route like I did. You can't exactly just slip it into your pants pocket. And since the handset is BT, you can't exactly leave the tablet in the car and just use the handset inside most restaurants either (unless you park really close to the building). I'll often leave mine at home if all I do is run to the store for a dozen eggs or something, just because it's easier not to pack it up. But then half an hour of being unconnected and out of touch doesn't bother me - it might bother some though.
So there you have it, a much less technical review, from yet another satisfied user.
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Thanks for sharing
So I am coming to this device from the Nvidia Shield Tablet and I love the device thus far for all of the positive reasons mentioned. Also with respect to screen brightness listed as a con my own experience is that it is much better than what I was coming from.
The battery life is truly great with this device and my needs are small when it comes to the development area. I simply need it to be rooted because I prefer to remove all of googles garbage that I don't use and rooting and bootloader unlock was very simple.
All in all I am really liking this device, had it about 10 days now. I have the LTE version but only because I may use it at some point.
Overall very pleased with the device so far.
ThePhoneGeek said:
So I am coming to this device from the Nvidia Shield Tablet and I love the device thus far for all of the positive reasons mentioned. Also with respect to screen brightness listed as a con my own experience is that it is much better than what I was coming from.
The battery life is truly great with this device and my needs are small when it comes to the development area. I simply need it to be rooted because I prefer to remove all of googles garbage that I don't use and rooting and bootloader unlock was very simple.
All in all I am really liking this device, had it about 10 days now. I have the LTE version but only because I may use it at some point.
Overall very pleased with the device so far.
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I was seriously considering the Shield because of the dev scene and the price. What made you switch?
jelbo said:
I was seriously considering the Shield because of the dev scene and the price. What made you switch?
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The device itself just isn't very efficient on battery and I needed something with a slightly larger screen. It does ok but it's really designed more as a gaming device IMO which wasn't what I needed. Also the specs are a bit outdated now.
I noticed in the op that he said being a non eu customer when unlocking bootloader they will notice. Im an eu user, does this mean that they wont notice if I try claim warranty after bootloader unlock? I havent unlocked yet but I was getting slow WiFi and disconnections. I really want root but im not sure about this WiFi issue I set the WiFi to turn off at sleep and it seems better also the issues are caused less im concerned what would you guys do? ive sent it off to Sony once already they said nothing was wrong with wifi. Can someone help me decide? Much appreciated, many thanks.
As mentioned in another thread, Lenovo quietly refreshed the Tab 3 Pro with 4GB RAM, a newer Intel m5 processor, and 64GB storage, FWIW. Stacking it up against the Tab 3 Plus (3GB RAM, Snapdragon 8-core, 32GB), so far a lot is speculation or anecdata.
My main questions, to put the TL;DR at the top:
How does the Plus perform out of the box, before doing any XDA magic on it? Have the audio sync issues been fixed? A Lenovo rep has been quoted saying they have been fixed.
How do these two CPUs compare? I've seen speculation that Android and/or certain apps may not be as well optimized for Intel chips, even if the m5 is otherwise more capable.
I'm strongly considering one of these two, probably the Pro. Most people, just shopping for a good tablet, will probably go with the Plus. It's currently $200 cheaper (40%), and that price point for the display and speaker quality, along with dat battery, is unquestionably a good deal. The Plus has some OOBE issues: A/V sync (possibly fixed), encryption lag, some questionable display "enhancements." But, it also has at least one dev here at XDA who has fixed all of the above and provided root, at least for the WiFi only model available in the US.
I've only had credible feedback from two different people regarding the new Pro, but word is performance is solid. Both people had the old 2GB Pro long enough to try out, and found it barely usable due to encryption lag and low RAM, and both say the new Pro is not the fastest tablet they've ever used, but has no real issues. It's probably underperforming for its hardware, but the hardware is strong enough you won't notice. Which is good, because it may never have dev support here, or not until the price drops significantly (though who knows, XDA has surprised me before).
What it probably comes down to is whether you want that projector. The projector isn't all you get for $200 - there are also small spec bumps across the board, and double the onboard storage - but if you don't have a realistic use for the projector, it would be hard to justify the extra cost. The real world performance difference between the Pro and Plus is probably not large, and may even fall in the Plus's favor if some apps have trouble with the Intel CPU (not at all verified). For me, the projector looks like it will make a serviceable bedroom TV, and probably a more comfortable solution than any of my options for getting a flatscreen in my room. The 480p will probably be inadequate for throwing comic books up on the wall (and certainly not on par with that 2HD screen), but I would give it a try.
For me, the bedroom TV prospect is one of the things pushing me over that "Do I really need a new tablet..." line. My Nook HD+ used to get a lot of use, but has been collecting dust for 2-3 years in favor of a good desktop and smartphone, and a Kindle Paperwhite taking over book duty. Now, is it not getting used because it's old and slow, or is it not getting used because I don't have much use for it?
Feedback on the new Pro is sparse, so if you have one in your hands, please let us know about it.
Taosaur said:
A Lenovo rep has been quoted saying they have been fixed.
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Where did you see this?
kayakyakr said:
Where did you see this?
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In the aforementioned thread:
Klvn88 said:
Was talking to a Lenovo Sales Rep on their online chat system about the audio sync issue and she was saying they have "received information that all issues have been fixed." I asked her to be specific about the audio sync issue and she confirmed they were told the audio sync issue has been fixed. Any idea if this is true or was she just saying what she thought I wanted to hear?
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Also in the comments of a recent Amazon review, someone stating he was not having these issues on a newly purchased Plus, though I don't know if the problem was universal. Again, nothing solid, and I would love to hear from others with a stock Plus.
Taosaur said:
In the aforementioned thread:
Also in the comments of a recent Amazon review, someone stating he was not having these issues on a newly purchased Plus, though I don't know if the problem was universal. Again, nothing solid, and I would love to hear from others with a stock Plus.
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I wouldn't trust either of those sources until we start to see OTA updates coming out from Lenovo fixing the issues. The Amazon user is not a power user while the different arms of Lenovo don't seem to know what the other is doing.
kayakyakr said:
I wouldn't trust either of those sources until we start to see OTA updates coming out from Lenovo fixing the issues. The Amazon user is not a power user while the different arms of Lenovo don't seem to know what the other is doing.
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Yep, that's why I'm asking. All the info on Amazon (regarding these two devices) is pretty useless.
Is it normal for there to be such limited reviews/information for Lenovo Tablets?! Really want to buy it, but just want to know more! haha.
There are a decent number of YouTube reviews of the previous Pro, and a couple non-English ones for this model, but Lenovo made zero publicity about the new model and didn't even give it a new name. Here's some info I got from someone on YouTube, for what it's worth:
Taosaur: I'm hoping the spec bump on the new model gets around some of the performance issues.
YouTuber: can confirm. I actually bought the new version to test it out! Loved it so much that that I sold my iPad lmao. No lag at all really
Reply
Taosaur: Thanks for the feedback! It doesn't seem like Lenovo's much interested in people knowing the new model exists. Do you ever pull out the projector? I've been surprised how positive the feedback has been on a pretty dim 480p projector.
YouTuber: Yes I do! It's very great to seeing movies on it rather than the screen because of the size. Especially because I have a big white wall in my bedroom. The one issue I've come across with this tablet is that every battery capacity app states I have 4300 MAH battery. Less than half of 10200... however I recently learned I'm not the only one experiencing this and the battery capacity thing seems to only be a glitch. I get around 8-9 hours of screen on time with about an hour of projector use included in that so it's still pretty good
Taosaur: I don't suppose you've tried the projector with comic books? I'm guessing the resolution wouldn't make it a great experience, and the 2HD screen would be better regardless, but I'm sure I'll try it if I end up pulling the trigger. Any idea if the Hoopla Digital app works on this tablet? It's a an app for borrowing digital comics and other media with a library card. It's not compatible with my current tablet running CyanogenMod Nougat.
YouTuber: I just tested a comic and it seems to work fine. I'm sure the projector would be fine with comic books in the pitch black for sure. I just tested that app for ya and it opens just fine. I don't have a hoopla account though so I didn't get past the login screen.
I gotta say he projector is really nice for movie watching. One thing I gotta mention is... The blacks in the display aren't that good... The blacks have a blueish tone to it. I wish it was an amoled display. Still the colors are quite vibrant. Also the screen gets REALLY bright and also gets REALLY dim. Great for daytime use and night use. I tried the pixel c and it wasn't dim enough so it hurt my eyes at night
But that makes the projector all the nicer to use. After using the projector to watch the walking dead, it's hard to go back to the screen for movie watching haha. Seems so small in comparison. It's really amazing having it in such a small package. Especially as the projector is totally fanless and never needs replacement bulbs.
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And I did pull the trigger a couple days ago, so I should have the Pro sometime tomorrow :fingers-crossed: I'll let you know what I think.
Taosaur said:
There are a decent number of YouTube reviews of the previous Pro, and a couple non-English ones for this model, but Lenovo made zero publicity about the new model and didn't even give it a new name. Here's some info I got from someone on YouTube, for what it's worth:
And I did pull the trigger a couple days ago, so I should have the Pro sometime tomorrow :fingers-crossed: I'll let you know what I think.
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Awesome, thanks for posting that convo between you and the YouTuber. Would definitely like to hear you own experience with it.. I likely would just get the Plus version, as I don't see myself using the projector enough to justify the significantly higher price tag here in Canada. Hoping the 3gb ram is good enough for me to just use it as a media tablet, won't be a whole lot of multi-tasking. :fingers-crossed:
I have the 4gb pro and its really good. I had the 2gb pro and it was terrible due to the RAM issue. The 4gb has no such issues. I am still considering returning and getting the 3gb 10.1 inch plus version though. It's $200 less, I dont need the projector, 3gb of ram should be enough to solve the issues of the 2gb pro and 4gb is probably overkill on the new pro. A few things are holding me back from making the change.
The audio sync issue is obviously a huge concern since I use the tablet for media consumption exclusively. Also, there is not a lot of info on how much different the 2 majorly different cpu's are intel vs snapdragon. While the intel cpu is better on paper as its been mentioned the snapdragon has much better overall android optimization due to being so ubiquitous. Also can anyone confirm if the 3gb snapdragon has quick charge? The intel version does and its fanstastic.
My Pro showed up Monday, and I do like the projector. It may end up my most-used feature, though the screen is also gorgeous. I hang the thing over my bed and project on the opposite wall, which gives at least a 55" image, less sharp but easier on the eyes at night than a backlit LCD. Zen Pinball is my go-to game on a tablet, and it plays great - the stand comes in handy. I wouldn't try to play any detailed games with the projector, but old-school emulators would probably be great, and again, the 2HD display is excellent.
There have been bugs:
I had a one-off sound glitch with the pinball game, getting really distorted sound, but going into Dolby Atmos and switching to game mode fixed it.
"Request failed" toasts kept popping up last night while I was watching Hulu. No clue what they were, but they didn't interrupt playback.
So far I've had no luck pairing the tablet with my phone over bluetooth. They see each other, but give "wrong pin" errors, despite showing the same pin. Both connect fine to my headphones and speaker.
FYI, there are more credible reports showing up on Amazon that a software update has corrected the Plus' A/V sync and "flickering" issues.
mike240se said:
I have the 4gb pro and its really good. I had the 2gb pro and it was terrible due to the RAM issue. The 4gb has no such issues. I am still considering returning and getting the 3gb 10.1 inch plus version though. It's $200 less, I dont need the projector, 3gb of ram should be enough to solve the issues of the 2gb pro and 4gb is probably overkill on the new pro. A few things are holding me back from making the change.
The audio sync issue is obviously a huge concern since I use the tablet for media consumption exclusively. Also, there is not a lot of info on how much different the 2 majorly different cpu's are intel vs snapdragon. While the intel cpu is better on paper as its been mentioned the snapdragon has much better overall android optimization due to being so ubiquitous. Also can anyone confirm if the 3gb snapdragon has quick charge? The intel version does and its fanstastic.
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Have you had any issues with random apps not working? I recently purchased it and cannot get snapchat to work on it for the life of me.
I just bought the plus, I haven't had any audio sync issues thus far and am pretty happy with the overall build quality and performance thus far.
xerogabe106 said:
Have you had any issues with random apps not working? I recently purchased it and cannot get snapchat to work on it for the life of me.
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Everything I've tried on it has worked well. I still get that "request failed" pop up at random times. I can only confirm that Snapchat installs and opens - I'm not about to make an account.
Taosaur said:
Everything I've tried on it has worked well. I still get that "request failed" pop up at random times. I can only confirm that Snapchat installs and opens - I'm not about to make an account.
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It opens after a fresh install, I can get to the login/create account screen. But after login it just crashes and crashes when I startup as well.