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The cheap tablets have so much bloatware it's absurd so you might end up shoving something like LineageOS onto it like me. There was like 800MB of RAM that was being used on, like, settings and phoning home with the A7. And Samsung isn't the worst of them.
jokes fucked around with this message at 03:29 on May 18, 2021 |
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May 18, 2021 03:27
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9vwFKoFcLo
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Jun 1, 2021 22:33
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I did something completely impulsive and at the time seemingly stupid on Prime Day, but after an hour with it, I think I may be in love. I've been seeking a good 8" Android tablet. I've replaced the battery of my Nexus 7 2013 and it works, but it's old and slow. I have a Mediapad M5 8.4 that I liked when I got it, but lack of updates leaving it at Android 8 (which meant no dark mode) and a build of Android that never seemed quite right left me wanting more. I've considered an iPad mini, but that's a hard no until it gets a redesign and goes USB-C. So that didn't leave much. You have the Fire tablets with their lower resolution screen and quad core processor. You have the cheap A series from Samsung which also top out at 800p and some don't even have biometrics. But there was another Samsung option that was announced a few months ago. The Tab Active 3. It's an enterprise option and I forgot about it because I wasn't sure of the full specs when announced and the cost was a little hight. Well, on Prime Day, Amazon had the 64gb model for $380 and I took the plunge. It runs an Exynos 9810 which is what was in the S9 series. That's a fair sight better than the quad core mediatek chips that are usually in this class of device. It's a 1920x1200 screen that's LCD, lower resolution than the 2k 2560x1600 screen in the Mediapad, but contrast, colors and black levels are better. It's a rugged tablet, but without the included heavy case, it's not too chunky and pretty nice to hold. Top and bottom bezels are a little large, but not horrible. It has three physical navigation buttons with the home button housing s fingerprint sensor. I wouldn't mind doing without the buttons and doing gesture navigation, but the thing was built for use with gloves so I can understand. It's IP68 water and dust resistance. Drop resistance. Removable battery. Headphones jack. Oh, it is SPen compatible and includes a rugged one in the box. It's been fast so far. I have some long term reservations about the 4gb of RAM, but we'll see. Samsung actually has a decent update pledge now so it's nice knowing it should see updates for awhile. In all, not a bad package for $380. There are things I would change, but for the most part it's what I've been looking for. It's even on Android 11! bull3964 fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Jun 26, 2021 |
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Jun 26, 2021 02:08
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So I more or less impulse bought two Amazon Fire HD 8 (2020 release) tablets on Prime Day for ~$45 ea., and downloaded Fire Toolbox from XDA Forums/xda-developers. I'm Android-stupid though, I don't really use any Android devices on the regular (at least not through the stock Android user experience; if there are devices I'm using that are running Android or based on it, I'm ignorant of it); am I in the right spot to ask stupid questions? My plan is to just sideload APKs with Fire Toolbox and remove basically all the Amazon gunk. Anyone else gone this route on this tablet or a similar one? Anything I should watch out for? Please pardon my dumb, and thanks in advance.
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Jun 30, 2021 00:18
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Just use the Toolbox to install the Play Store and treat it like a Google device instead. Is there any particular reason you're wanting to sideload everything?
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Jun 30, 2021 00:37
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DemonMage posted:Just use the Toolbox to install the Play Store and treat it like a Google device instead. Is there any particular reason you're wanting to sideload everything? Yeah just do that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XRo8SFdmvc There's also ways to disable all the amazon stuff and it turns into a normal android tablet.
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Jun 30, 2021 00:44
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DemonMage posted:Just use the Toolbox to install the Play Store and treat it like a Google device instead. Is there any particular reason you're wanting to sideload everything? If I can not do that, I'd prefer not to, which is why I figured I'd just sideload. I'm sure it restricts me quite a bit compared to everything on the Play Store to e.g., just where people have put up APKs as binaries/opaque blobs, like GitHub or elsewhere, but in the short run I think that's fine, and if I hate it, I can always give up and install the Play Store. If I'm totally wrong about that being tied to an account though, then so much the better.
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Jun 30, 2021 01:43
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You can just create a throwaway google account with any email address, doesn't even have to be gmail. It's not like Facebook where they're gonna root out your fake account and disable it. Google don't care.
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Jun 30, 2021 02:18
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I don't really want to roll with the Fire Toolbox on account of it being some random .exe downloaded from the internet that freaks out my anti-virus, because my computer has important personal poo poo on it whereas my tablet is basically just a fun toy. That said, I can easily find Google .apk files for up to the 9th generation Fire HD 10, but I'm on 11th gen. Will the 9th generation poo poo work for me, do I need to be patient for a new release, or am I just bad at searching?
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Jul 3, 2021 06:52
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Just side load play store like a normal person. You don't even need toolbox to do it.
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Jul 3, 2021 19:16
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Inspector 34 posted:Just side load play store like a normal person. You don't even need toolbox to do it. That's what I was asking about, I wanted to know whether the latest apks were verified working on the latest fire 10 And it turns out that they are! Got Awful app and everything else that I wanted, now my tablet owns
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Jul 6, 2021 00:57
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Right on, glad you got it figured out! Sorry if I was a bit snarky.
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Jul 6, 2021 08:51
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Do you guys think a Fire 10 with the keyboard case would make an acceptable laptop? I'm looking to get an new laptop/tablet hybrid like a chromebook or something, but the Fire 10's price is a little too good for me to discount it completely. I used to have a Fire 7 and it was a nice little tablet, but it did seem to get slowed down relatively quickly. I'm mostly looking for something I can use as an e-reader, play games via streaming (like with Steamlink and whatnot), and document editing. I'm in the process of converting a pile of physical books to ebooks, so I'm wanting something comfortable to type on. I don't need anything high powered really, which is why I think the Fire 10 might be best, but I've never tried using a tablet as an impromptu laptop so I'm not sure how well it will work.
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Jul 8, 2021 21:59
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Soysaucebeast posted:Do you guys think a Fire 10 with the keyboard case would make an acceptable laptop? I'm looking to get an new laptop/tablet hybrid like a chromebook or something, but the Fire 10's price is a little too good for me to discount it completely. I used to have a Fire 7 and it was a nice little tablet, but it did seem to get slowed down relatively quickly. I'm mostly looking for something I can use as an e-reader, play games via streaming (like with Steamlink and whatnot), and document editing. I'm in the process of converting a pile of physical books to ebooks, so I'm wanting something comfortable to type on. I don't need anything high powered really, which is why I think the Fire 10 might be best, but I've never tried using a tablet as an impromptu laptop so I'm not sure how well it will work.
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Jul 8, 2021 22:44
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Also, the Lenovo Duet exists for around the same $250 price. It comes with a keyboard and kickstand, supports USI stylus, and can be used as a 10" Android tablet without the attachments. Having full desktop chrome is a huge advantage and ChromeOS is progressing along at a pretty quick pace right now. It will also be supported longer than a cheap Android tablet.
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Jul 8, 2021 23:23
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Alright, I think you both have talked me into it. That Lenovo Duet especially looks right up my alley. Amazon has that listed with the specs saying it has 0GB of storage, which is hilarious to me.
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Jul 9, 2021 00:29
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I bought a Lenovo tbx-606f and the thing is a piece of poo poo. Its stuck in a boot loop out of the box. I could fix this but I don't think its a good idea because if its already non-functional out of the box there's probably more stuff wrong with it. The recommendation thread is in the archives so what's a good ~10" tablet? I want one for reading web serials and browsing the internet. Bonus if there's a way for me to muck about and remove all the factory provided bloatware.
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Jul 20, 2021 19:00
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Again, the best inexpensive muck about 10" Android tablet right now is the Lenovo Duet Chromebook. It has a decent 1080p screen, runs Android apps, runs full chrome, isn't a dog in performance, comes with a kickstand magnetic back and attachable keyboard, and will get monthly updates until June 2028 and you can get a refurb 64gb model on Amazon for $179 right now (new 128gb is $299.)
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Jul 20, 2021 19:33
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Wow that actually seems like a great deal. Might finally replace my old x220 thinkpad with one of these. I mostly only use the thinkpad for RDP access and messing around on the internet and it kind of struggles with both of those nowadays.
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Jul 20, 2021 22:23
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Azuth0667 posted:I bought a Lenovo tbx-606f and the thing is a piece of poo poo. Its stuck in a boot loop out of the box. I could fix this but I don't think its a good idea because if its already non-functional out of the box there's probably more stuff wrong with it. I got a Galaxy Tab A7 10.4" (2020) for 200€ on Amazon some months ago. It's not great by any means but has four speakers, the screen is decent and is good enough for media. I picked it up mostly for Netflix, Youtube and pdf reading but it's drat slow compared to my phone and has only 3Gb of RAM.
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Jul 22, 2021 17:35
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Azuth0667 posted:I bought a Lenovo tbx-606f and the thing is a piece of poo poo. Its stuck in a boot loop out of the box. I could fix this but I don't think its a good idea because if its already non-functional out of the box there's probably more stuff wrong with it If this "Tab M10 FHD Plus (2nd Gen)"' is brand new (and not an eBay scam) could be worth just swapping it for a functional replacement before switching to something else since these things happen. My experience with it's 2019 brother, the "Yoga Smart tab" was pleasant (though much of that was due to the form factor of device which your model doesn't share). The black mark against it was the lolnovo support of only one update from Pie -> 10 before they called it quits. bull3964 posted:Again, the best inexpensive muck about 10" Android tablet right now is the Lenovo Duet Chromebook. From my experience while the Duet is a better overall product/value proposition than most Android tablets, that's mostly a passive trait of being ChromeOS and its noticably worse at doing Android things than a native Android tablet. Compared to the Yoga tab the transitions aren't as smooth, the launcher is limited and apps just have a random jankiness which seems to attributable to ARC. Add that to Google's active dev push to make PWA's the native Google Play binary for Chrome OS (e.g. you can't even choose to download the Twitter Android app via Play) and its pretty clear that Android is intended to be a secondary platform, whereas every other device including Android is the reverse (native primary, web secondary). The market has two types of tablet: Desktop Tablets (Windows) and Mobile Tablets (iPad). Both categories can "cosplay" as the other but when it comes down to it the primary method of interaction/OS model dominates the limitations of the device so the user needs to choose the one with the right underlying tradeoffs. The Duet is a good product because so much of tablet use is using the Web, but won't be right for everyone.
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Jul 22, 2021 19:10
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My Fire 10 (9th Gen, 2020) has been nagging me for about a week now to update Google Play Services, which is the first that I've gotten that message on a Play-Store-and-services-sideloaded Fire device. Thing is, I remember the assorted components needing to be installed in a particular order the first time. Can I simply fetch the latest APK (which appears to be a beta version dated yesterday) and install it, or do I need to uninstall other components first?
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Sep 1, 2021 18:24
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Our new puppy decided that my charger to my late 2013 MacBook was delicious. Since it's a bit old now I was thinking of replacing it with a tablet. I was looking at the S7+ or S7. How is the keyboard for it? And is the difference between them a big deal? I know the S8 will probably be announced at the beginning of the year but not sure if I want to wait or not.
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Nov 10, 2021 22:55
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The size difference is pretty significant, but the S7+ has the sweet oled screen and HDR support while the S7 is just LCD and SDR. The keyboard on the S7+ is serviceable, I just haven't used it much since I mostly use it for media consumption. I'm not sure what's happening with the S8 since it appears they are adding an even larger and more premium tablet so I'm afraid that will mean pushing the OLED screen further up the size chain.
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Nov 10, 2021 23:30
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I was really hoping to hear something from Google with 12L. I'll do some more looking at the S7+ and see what the price difference is.
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Nov 11, 2021 00:19
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L's premier device from Google is likely to be a foldable. There's no hints of a tablet at this time.
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Nov 11, 2021 00:40
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Thanks for posting this. I'm not used to dealing with individual sideloading stuff nor inclined to keep up with updates. This acted as a manger to get most of the Fire crap off and still allow me to have Kindle, Audible and Amazon Shop apps available. Couldn't get everything to work like custom sounds but that's nit-picky and having google services was the main goal.
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Nov 21, 2021 02:19
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What are the options for current successors to the Nexus 7? I want that form factor and a mostly unmolested Android install. Don’t need cellular connectivity.
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Nov 21, 2021 19:13
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bawfuls posted:What are the options for current successors to the Nexus 7? I want that form factor and a mostly unmolested Android install. Don’t need cellular connectivity. There really isn't anything that's as nice as the Nexus 7. The budget choices are a Samsung tablet or a Fire tablet that you toss the play store on. With the Pixel 6 Pro phone hitting 6.7" screen size it almost feels like the days of big bezel 7" tablets are over. My Pixel 4a 5G is almost the same vertical screen size as my Nexus 7 but is a couple of cm smaller horizontally and doesn't have the huge bezel that the Nexus 7 does. I'm not saying that there's no use for tablet this size, I think they're great, but there just doesn't seem to be an easy choice. I have a refurbished 7" amazon fire tablet that I use as a work calendar that's just 24/7 display on running Business Calendar on my desk and since it was only around $40 I intend to use it until the battery bloats and then either get a new battery or a newer refurbished Fire for the same price. I've had it set up for about three years now. I doubt it's great for media consumption since they generally don't have a lot of ram but it's working for this extremely basic job. I've also picked up a couple of 6"+ phones for basic tasks in the last couple of years and prepaid phones or used/refurbished ones like the Moto G series are usually decent for the price.
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Nov 21, 2021 22:28
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The Fire tablets are on sale and since I haven't bought one in a several generations I decided to grab a 10 inch Plus. Interested to see how it compares to my old hd8 from 2015.
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Nov 22, 2021 01:04
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bawfuls posted:What are the options for current successors to the Nexus 7? I want that form factor and a mostly unmolested Android install. Don’t need cellular connectivity. A fairly reliable "unmolested Android install" filter is to seek out tablets which have Google's new Entertainment Space on the homescreen (as Google seem to be enforcing a Stock-like UX as a condition of having it). Though to date, the only Entertainment Space tablets in the form factor you're looking for are the Lenovo Tab M7 & M8 (3rd Gen) and the 7 inch Walmart Onn. Since the M8 doesn't seem to be out yet in any market (and IIRC they don't plan to bring it to the US), that pretty much leaves the M7 as the best choice as long as you can live with it being Android 11 Go edition, MicroUSB and the lolnovo update policy. Though given the price point, its pretty much a Kindle Fire alternative with native Google app support. This vid is a pretty good overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PTcQQmuXVc
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Nov 23, 2021 00:23
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If I'm generally pleased with my 2019 (9th Gen) Fire HD10, how is the 2021 (11th Gen) Fire HD10 Plus? Was thinking about picking up one on BF deal and giving my old one to a friend who weirdly reluctant to try out Android tablets despite being in the Android ecosystem for phone.
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Nov 26, 2021 19:40
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Where the gently caress are all the 8” tablets without dogshit terrible 1280x800 screens? My ageing Tab S2 is on its last legs and the only thing I can find to replace it with even a remotely acceptable resolution is a Lenovo Tab M8, which is already 2 android versions out of date and will likely never ever see an update even from the homebrew community from the looks of it since there doesn’t seem to be a single custom ROM out there.
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Dec 1, 2021 19:52
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The best on the market is the Galaxy Tab Active 3 if you are fine with the chunkiness (it's a rugged enterprise device) and can get it on sale. The screen is good and high resolution. Has a fingerprint sensor. The SoC is also pretty decent. It has a long software support cycle being an enterprise device and has a removable battery while being IP68. I would absolutely buy the poo poo out of a Tab S8 8.4" device with a 1600x1200 HDR OLED screen and a flagship SoC though. Too bad there's no market.
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Dec 1, 2021 20:46
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Probably get a Lenovo duet lol I only just now saw they released a sequel that got oled but is 13" and 16:9, kinda sucks
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Dec 1, 2021 21:05
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sourdough posted:Probably get a Lenovo duet lol The duet isn't 8" It would be nice to have an iPad mini competitor in this space, especially since the iPad mini's screen isn't anything to write home about.
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Dec 1, 2021 21:13
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I feel like the issue with that space on the android side is that the phones are nearly that size so there isn’t a whole lot of demand for that sized tablet.
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Dec 1, 2021 21:23
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So are iPhones. The small tablet market in general isn't strong. There's a reason why the iPad Mini just got its first physical redesign after 5 generations.
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Dec 1, 2021 21:27
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My current phone is a iPhone 13 pro max so I’m no stranger to the giant phone experience nor iOS, but from a tablet I explicitly want something that isn’t a gigantic slab but still has a decent screen for viewing images and also has a microSD slot so I’m not beholden to paying out the rear end for more onboard storage upfront, or tied to whatever I happen to have on the tablet at any given time when I could just change the card. I also like having a mobile device I can sideload poo poo on to gently caress around with if something interesting comes out rather than being trapped in the App Store, and my tablet fills that niche. My favourite tablet I ever owned was my ASUS z580c and I had to pay like 3x what that cost me originally for my Tab S2 to replace it because it was the only useful option at the time despite being barely an upgrade for my usage.
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Dec 1, 2021 21:52
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bull3964 posted:The duet isn't 8" I know, but I think someone looking for an 8" android tablet would probably be best served by getting that instead of a fire 8 or whatever
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Dec 1, 2021 22:25
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