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JayKay posted:Android O is not coming to the Shield Tablet/Shield Tablet K1. Let us marvel at the fact that the Shield Tablet/K1 got more major OS updates than most of Google's Nexus products. I use a K1 at home, and my two complaints about it are the so-so battery life and the 2GB of RAM. Other than that, things been a tank and a great purchase.
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Oct 13, 2017 20:52
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I'm thinking about getting the new Fire 10" specifically for comics. Will I have any trouble side loading Marvel Unlimited?
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Oct 13, 2017 23:01
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strange feelings re Daisy posted:I'm thinking about getting the new Fire 10" specifically for comics. Will I have any trouble side loading Marvel Unlimited? Is it in the regular Google Play Store? If so, you can just install the Play Store on the Fire and then install any regular Play Store app like normal. There's guides on The Internet on how to install the Play Store on the Fire...it's easy and doesn't involve any fuckery with root or boot loaders or anything. (note that the only reason I know that you can install the Play Store on the new 10" is people saying it in comments on blog posts, but I would assume its something you can still do)
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Oct 13, 2017 23:04
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nope
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Oct 13, 2017 23:14
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Thermopyle posted:(note that the only reason I know that you can install the Play Store on the new 10" is people saying it in comments on blog posts, but I would assume its something you can still do) I side loaded the Play Store super easy on mine as described above. I sanity checked that Marvel Unlimited shows up there to install, and the answer is yes.
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Oct 13, 2017 23:31
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Can confirm that the Play Store trick still works just fine, and also survives the Fire OS upgrade that's likely to happen as soon as the battery is charged up a bit.
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Oct 14, 2017 02:55
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Acid Reflux posted:I got one Wednesday. After weighing a bunch of options while trying to find something to replace my dying 2013 Nexus 7, I asked myself, "If 1080p is good enough on your 46" television, surely it'll be good enough on your 10" tablet?" I'm starting the process of shifting all of the bigger displays on my house to 4k. My desktop monitor is first, then the main TV, and eventually the others. All of the phones are already 1536p (PixelXL and GS6), and the new iPads for the kids will be retina, so 1440/1536p is the lowest I'll for anything new going forward.
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Oct 14, 2017 03:05
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AlexDeGruven posted:I'm starting the process of shifting all of the bigger displays on my house to 4k. My desktop monitor is first, then the main TV, and eventually the others. All of the phones are already 1536p (PixelXL and GS6), and the new iPads for the kids will be retina, so 1440/1536p is the lowest I'll for anything new going forward. This is where using p on its own falls apart, you got 2048x1536 on your iPad and replacement ipads, 2560x1440 on pixel and gs6. The iPad isn't real 1536p content as it's 4:3 but can display 1920 by 1080 - 1080p - in the middle. Neither phone is 1536p, they're solidly 1440p. To Get 1536p as normally used, you need like another 700 pixels or so in horizontal width to go 16:9 at least.
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Oct 14, 2017 04:57
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Yeah, I was using it as a generality instead of calling out specific resolutions in each mention.
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Oct 14, 2017 15:33
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I don't know if there's a better thread for this, but I'm considering replacing my old Pixel C with one of the newer convertible Chromebooks (I have my eye on the Plus) around Black Friday. Does anyone have any experience with those?
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Oct 15, 2017 04:32
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Caphi posted:I don't know if there's a better thread for this, but I'm considering replacing my old Pixel C with one of the newer convertible Chromebooks (I have my eye on the Plus) around Black Friday. Does anyone have any experience with those? I do; what did you want to know? Basically, it works as a CB with decent performance, and runs Android apps very well.
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Oct 15, 2017 12:45
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I've never used a Chromebook but I think it might fill most of my tablet needs - a lot of it is browsing but I'm writing regularly enough that I'm back to seriously considering the laptop form factor a plus - plus the developing Android support. I was hoping there'd be like a "stuff I wish I'd known" deal - not necessarily bad but like, any gotchas in how they work, how well the Android stuff works in practice, how easy tablet mode is to use, Chrome Apps vs Play Store apps, that sort of thing. I've got myself the next month to do research and collect data, figured asking people at least once might yield something more than what I'm getting out of reviews or Best Buy displays. One specific question I have is if it's possible in any way to get anything like home screen customization. Putting widgets like weather, schedule, audio controls, etc. on the launcher is a major Android draw and while it's much more so on my phone than my tablet I'd still like to know. Does it have to be a Chrome extension?
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Oct 15, 2017 18:27
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Caphi posted:I've never used a Chromebook but I think it might fill most of my tablet needs - a lot of it is browsing but I'm writing regularly enough that I'm back to seriously considering the laptop form factor a plus - plus the developing Android support. I was hoping there'd be like a "stuff I wish I'd known" deal - not necessarily bad but like, any gotchas in how they work, how well the Android stuff works in practice, how easy tablet mode is to use, Chrome Apps vs Play Store apps, that sort of thing. I've got myself the next month to do research and collect data, figured asking people at least once might yield something more than what I'm getting out of reviews or Best Buy displays. There's an easy way to see if ChromeOS will work for you: just try to do everything you need to exclusively within Chrome on whatever machine you're using now. That includes using Google Docs and/or office.com for productivity; pretty much everything else (browsing, video, music, etc.) you already know you can do in any browser. Beyond that there's not really anything else to it. As long as you get something with a decent CPU (Celeron N31xx or better) and 4+ GB of RAM it'll just work. For convertibles in general, tablet mode is functional, but never a replacement for an actual tablet. Almost every laptop (save for the 10" Asus Flip C100) is bigger & heavier than any tablet, and they have the keyboard on the back when you hold it, which can take some getting used to. Your expectation should be that you're going to use it in place of a tablet, but it's not a perfect substitute. That has nothing to do with OS though. As far as ARC (Android Runtime for Chrome) goes, keep in mind that not all Chromebooks have support, but many do, especially newer ones. Android apps basically run how you'd expect them to based on the hardware; demanding 3d games like Vainglory are a little sluggish on the aforementioned Asus Flip with a slower Rockchip CPU, but run well on the Samsung Plus with a newer ARM hexa-core (2+4.) You generally can't resize Android app windows, but the apps work as they would on your phone. Some apps just don't work at all, however, such as the Anomaly Benchmark (which doesn't run on some Android native devices, though.) The vast majority of your routine Android apps should work on ChromeOS, however. ChromeOS doesn't have support for widgets/gadgets, though. Your customization options are limited to the background image, the app drawer (or whatever the ChromeOS taskbar is officially called), and of course the browser interface itself.
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Oct 16, 2017 03:53
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Android apps on ChromeOS are about to leave beta.
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Oct 16, 2017 04:06
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Couldn't a curious person do a Chrome OS live USB as a tester on just about any x86 or x64 system? USB 3 booting on some right-sized touch-friendly Windows device is probably the best option before committing to a new purchase.
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Oct 16, 2017 15:10
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sweart gliwere posted:Couldn't a curious person do a Chrome OS live USB as a tester on just about any x86 or x64 system? Not literally ChromeOS, but you could indeed do this with the underlying ChromiumOS. Try Neverware CloudReady. It will do exactly what you want it to: run as a live OS off USB flash with the option to install it locally should you like it. You could certainly use it to turn any old PC into a "Chrom[ium]book" although keep in mind the dev cycle will be behind where ChromeOS is on proper Chromebooks. It will run on almost anything you'd expect Linux to, although I've always had problems with modern Linux distros on old Pentium M CPUs with the PAE "bug." Beyond that, you're fine, and you're right that it's a way to test Chromium before buying a Chromebook, but I still recommend simply running Chrome on your current OS as the easiest way to see if you can do everything you need in a browser.
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Oct 17, 2017 05:18
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So the Lenovo Tab 4s in the US are only 2gb? Even the plus models? Is there a decent cheap tablet that is better than a Nexus 9? My Nexus 9 seems sluggish. My Moto G5+ feels faster.
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Oct 18, 2017 03:30
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I've had a Dell Venue 8 7000 for a couple years now, but haven't used it as much as I would have liked. I've always been an iOS guy, but found this to be an attractive tablet to get me into Android. The problem I've had with this is performance, and I don't know if it is an outlier experience that I can fix, or if this is to be expected. Everyday use of web browsing and navigating the system gets really sluggish. Last night I noticed that it can take 4-8 seconds to go from an app to the home screen. Loading Chrome can take that long, perhaps longer considering it then has to then load a web page. While it is a several year old tablet running 5.1, I would still expect it to do the basics smoothly. Intel Atom Z3580, 4 core 2.33 GHz with 2GB RAM. (I'll also mention that I am rooted.) What might be holding me back? The basic way to look at this would be to question CPU, RAM, GPU, and storage. CPU I don't think is a problem. I've used monitoring tools, and I never see heavy usage. RAM isn't the 4GB standard we see today, but every modern iPad except for the super-sized Pros have 2GB, and they always run silky smooth for me. My two questions are on the GPU and storage. I'm curious if I'm getting slowdown because the system is waiting for the screen to be drawn. I've noticed in the Android Settings app, in developer options I can force GPU rendering for 2D drawing, as well as 'Disable HW overlays' which will 'always use GPU for screen compositing'. Does anyone know the pros and cons about these? As for storage, this is where my inexperience with Android comes in. A little research tells me that it uses virtual memory, right? Well, my free RAM usually overs around 200-300MB, so I imagine it uses virtual memory fairly heavily. If the tablet's internal storage is too slow, could that slow me down? And if so, would moving virtual memory onto a faster SD card help, if such a thing is possible? Or does the constant read/write of VM mean death for an SD card? On top of that, anything that I'd want to look into that uses root ability? I've got Kernel Audiutor installed, which opens up even more deeper options for managing the hardware.
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Oct 25, 2017 02:46
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Revol posted:I've had a Dell Venue 8 7000 for a couple years now, but haven't used it as much as I would have liked. I've always been an iOS guy, but found this to be an attractive tablet to get me into Android. The problem I've had with this is performance, and I don't know if it is an outlier experience that I can fix, or if this is to be expected. Everyday use of web browsing and navigating the system gets really sluggish. Last night I noticed that it can take 4-8 seconds to go from an app to the home screen. Loading Chrome can take that long, perhaps longer considering it then has to then load a web page. While it is a several year old tablet running 5.1, I would still expect it to do the basics smoothly. Intel Atom Z3580, 4 core 2.33 GHz with 2GB RAM. (I'll also mention that I am rooted.) I can only offer a couple of anecdotes. First of all, is your internal storage nearly full? Solid-state storage needs some free space for optimal performance. It could also be failing storage, like in the Nexus 7 2012. I have a Nexus 7 2013 that still works pretty well, and that has an S4 Pro (basically a slightly cut-down SD600) and still works pretty well. Conversely, I have a 1+1 that has better specs (SD801, 3 GB RAM, 64 GB storage) but periodically becomes unresponsive, acting like what you're describing by taking several seconds to respond. You could try wiping the tablet and starting over; a clean slate may work better, although not if the problem is an actual hardware failure as in the aforementioned N7 2012.
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Oct 25, 2017 06:50
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Atomizer posted:I can only offer a couple of anecdotes. First of all, is your internal storage nearly full? Solid-state storage needs some free space for optimal performance. It could also be failing storage, like in the Nexus 7 2012. I have a Nexus 7 2013 that still works pretty well, and that has an S4 Pro (basically a slightly cut-down SD600) and still works pretty well. Conversely, I have a 1+1 that has better specs (SD801, 3 GB RAM, 64 GB storage) but periodically becomes unresponsive, acting like what you're describing by taking several seconds to respond. You could try wiping the tablet and starting over; a clean slate may work better, although not if the problem is an actual hardware failure as in the aforementioned N7 2012. Internal storage is 4.15 free out of 9.87, so I don't think that's a problem. I could understand if it was a periodic issue, but this is constant. I never have what I would describe as acceptable performance. Does wiping the tablet get rid of the root? Revol fucked around with this message at 16:38 on Oct 25, 2017 |
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Oct 25, 2017 16:31
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If you just do a factory reset from the OS itself It shouldn't remove root. If you wipe the tablet entirely through a custom bootloader you may lose it (you will because a full wipe usually wipes the OS aswell).
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Oct 25, 2017 16:40
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Pixelbook reviews are in and they are all glowing. The price is steep, but it seems like it's absolutely worth it if you want a premium Chromebook.
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Oct 26, 2017 16:55
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bull3964 posted:Pixelbook reviews are in and they are all glowing. The price is steep, but it seems like it's absolutely worth it if you want a premium Chromebook. Any idea when the i7 version will be available?
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Oct 26, 2017 17:41
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butt dickus posted:Any idea when the i7 version will be available? I haven't seen it mentioned in any of the reviews I read.
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Oct 26, 2017 18:00
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I've been really itching to get a Surface Pro recently, but drat if that Pixelbook doesn't seem tempting. Unfortunately, the main reason I wanted a SP is for inking (taking notes and marking up documents/images) and it sounds like the inking on the Pixelbook isn't that great. Those of you that have a SP and an Android tablet (bull3964 I think), why/when do you use the Android tablet instead of the SP?
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Oct 26, 2017 19:51
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My Nexus 7 (2013) is on it's last legs. The sub $200 Android tablet market looks pretty sad and was just going to grab an HD 8. I'm assuming only having 1.5GB of memory won't hurt me that much? I'm using it for video and web browsing 90% of the time
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Oct 26, 2017 23:24
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The Lenovo Tab 4 has 2gb of ram, and I think 7.0 at least. Also I believe its $130 for the 8".
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Oct 27, 2017 00:07
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E2M2 posted:The Lenovo Tab 4 has 2gb of ram, and I think 7.0 at least. Also I believe its $130 for the 8". Yeah, Amazon has it for $130, and the 10" for $180. And yet, they both have a smaller native resolution (1280x800) than the 7" Nexus 7 2013 (1920x1200). Does that make a big difference? Because at $180, I'm tempted to get the 10. The gyroscope died on my N7-13 (will only rotate when an app forces it to; can't do AR stuff like Pokémon GO), and I've had issues where it freezes, I reboot it, it gets stuck in a bootloop, and I have to factory reset it.
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Oct 27, 2017 01:45
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Kheldarn posted:Yeah, Amazon has it for $130, and the 10" for $180. And yet, they both have a smaller native resolution (1280x800) than the 7" Nexus 7 2013 (1920x1200). Does that make a big difference? Because at $180, I'm tempted to get the 10. The gyroscope died on my N7-13 (will only rotate when an app forces it to; can't do AR stuff like Pokémon GO), and I've had issues where it freezes, I reboot it, it gets stuck in a bootloop, and I have to factory reset it. Everything is basically going to be bigger. If you want to compare 1280x800 to 1920x1200 just set your monitor resolution to 1280 and then load up a website. The jist is websites requiring more scrolling and text is going to be pretty big on a 10".
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Oct 27, 2017 03:12
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Thermopyle posted:I've been really itching to get a Surface Pro recently, but drat if that Pixelbook doesn't seem tempting. I haven't had an android tablet for a while, but I rarely use my surface pro as one. Its a great screen and good for anything passive, but text entry without the physical keyboard is a pain and I don't use enough of the universal windows apps to get the tablet features. But I also haven't felt much need for a tablet since I got a big phone so I might not be the best perspective.
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Oct 27, 2017 03:26
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E2M2 posted:The Lenovo Tab 4 has 2gb of ram, and I think 7.0 at least. Also I believe its $130 for the 8". Yeah but I figured if I was downgrading the resolution compared to the 7 I might as well just get the cheapo HD 8. The 10 has everything else I want I just don't need a 10" screen
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Oct 27, 2017 06:32
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bull3964 posted:Pixelbook reviews are in and they are all glowing. The price is steep, but it seems like it's absolutely worth it if you want a premium Chromebook. I can attest that the previous Pixels are fantastic, albeit expensive. I think I'm pretty much definitely going to get a Pixelbook after I rationalize it to myself.  I'm thinking about contacting Google and seeing if they'll give me a discount for being a Chromebook whore and evangelist.  WhyteRyce posted:My Nexus 7 (2013) is on it's last legs. The sub $200 Android tablet market looks pretty sad and was just going to grab an HD 8. I'm assuming only having 1.5GB of memory won't hurt me that much? I'm using it for video and web browsing 90% of the time 1.5 GB RAM won't make a difference to you for viewing video and Web browsing. The only things that'll influence are multi-tasking and maybe running a demanding game. With less RAM expect apps to reload more frequently when switching between them. Kheldarn posted:Yeah, Amazon has it for $130, and the 10" for $180. And yet, they both have a smaller native resolution (1280x800) than the 7" Nexus 7 2013 (1920x1200). Does that make a big difference? Because at $180, I'm tempted to get the 10. The gyroscope died on my N7-13 (will only rotate when an app forces it to; can't do AR stuff like Pokémon GO), and I've had issues where it freezes, I reboot it, it gets stuck in a bootloop, and I have to factory reset it. The N7 still has a fantastic display for that size and also considering the age of the tablet. The HD8 is still probably fine for general use, but FYI woot.com has had refurbs of the HDX 7 (and also the 10) recently; the HDX 7 is basically a replacement for the N7, with a more-or-less identical high-resolution display, but a better SoC (SD800) although it's still a few years old and runs FireOS out of the box. The price was $75 (!!!!!) for the 32 GB LTE version when I bought it. I use it more or less daily to play Vainglory. The prices on the 8.9" versions have been roughly $135-170, depending on storage and version (there was a refresh with the SD801.)
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Oct 27, 2017 08:14
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Atomizer posted:
I just sold my HDX 7 a few months ago (to get this Yoga Tab 3 Plus) and while it is surprisingly powerful for a tablet of its age (the screen is great, too) there are a few things to watch for: -You can unlock the bootloader, flash a custom rom, root, etc. There are some pretty solid 7.1 roms on xda for this thing -The speakers suck rear end, little tiny rear-firing motherfuckers -Bluetooth is a dog on anything but a stock-based OS. The last stock OS base for this is good ol' Android 4.4, so... As an ereader the HDX 7 is killer. I ran fbreader on it and my phone and there is nothing quite like putting your book down on one device and picking it up on another. 1920x1080 is a sweet resolution for a 7" screen.
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Oct 27, 2017 12:43
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I wouldn't be using it as web browser or an eReader. I mainly use M7-13 for gaming. Right now, I play Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and Kingdom Hearts Union X. I also side-load Pokémon GO onto it so that I can use the VR stuff when I'm home. I'll be adding Final Fantasy Legends II and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp to it when they come out next month (first and last of the month, respectively). Now, if I can flash a custom ROM to an HDX, and still do the above, I'll have to really think about getting it instead.
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Oct 27, 2017 13:46
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Atomizer posted:You could try wiping the tablet and starting over Factory reset resolved my performance issue.
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Oct 29, 2017 00:46
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Thermopyle posted:
Honestly, the Surface Pro isn't a great tablet, it's a great Windows machine, but the app store is still a barren wasteland, so you pretty much end up just using it as a browser in tablet mode or just playing media. I bought the SP for the sheer portability and power in a PC. I also have the dock for it so I use it as my main desktop hooked to a 4k and 1080p monitor along with the internal display. I only turn my desktop on when I want to play games. I also have an XPS15 that I use if I want to play PC games away from my computer, but it admittedly doesn't get used all that often. I just ordered a Pixelbook after the glowing reviews. To me, this size of convertible Chromebooks just strike the right balance of size and utility to make them an easy thing just to pick up and use.
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Oct 29, 2017 00:48
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bull3964 posted:Honestly, the Surface Pro isn't a great tablet, it's a great Windows machine, but the app store is still a barren wasteland, so you pretty much end up just using it as a browser in tablet mode or just playing media. I just went to a Best Buy and played with the Pixelbook, and it is phenomenal. I was particularly impressed with the keyboard; it was excellent to type on, and they managed to keep normal keyswitches in a laptop that isn't much thicker than the current MacBook Pro. If it wasn't for the absurd cost I might consider getting one to replace my rMBP.
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Oct 29, 2017 01:30
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I honestly don't think that the surface tablets are a great windows experience anyway. The form factor, along with the attached keyboard cover and track pad...feel like poo poo to use imo. I'd take an XPS13 or HP Spectre over a surface anyway if I was just looking for a great windows machine.
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Oct 29, 2017 02:37
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The new surface pros are SUPER fast and the screen is phenomenal.
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Oct 29, 2017 02:47
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Revol posted:Factory reset resolved my performance issue.  bull3964 posted:Honestly, the Surface Pro isn't a great tablet, it's a great Windows machine, but the app store is still a barren wasteland, so you pretty much end up just using it as a browser in tablet mode or just playing media. One thing I first noticed back when I first got the Razer Edge is that you have to get Windows software that's touch-native, because little software, especially games, works well otherwise. That's especially bad on a "gaming" tablet, especially one that doesn't come with the proprietary controller dock  , but that's another story.bull3964 posted:I just ordered a Pixelbook after the glowing reviews. To me, this size of convertible Chromebooks just strike the right balance of size and utility to make them an easy thing just to pick up and use. Do let us know how it is; I'm holding out for the highest-end version (against all rationality ) and maybe a sale/discount! I'm actually going to start a Chromebook Megathread very soon, after months of talking about doing it, so you can share with us there!
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Oct 29, 2017 05:01
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