Android Tablet Thread: Defend Your Other Purchase

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Android Tablet Thread: Defend Your Other Purchase

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

coolskillrex remix posted:

Uhh who are you shopping from? I cant remember the last package ive had to sign under $500. $500 is where fedex/ups force companies to pay for signed delivery, anything under that and they dont care.

Newegg, Amazon, Apple, for example.

I guess if they can remote disable the tablet if it's stolen then it's less risk / makes more sense, but otherwise I can see a lot of people having it "stolen" off their doorstep.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2012 01:02

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 16, 2024 23:07

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

bull3964 posted:

And then the person that delivers the package can choose to completely ignore that requirement and toss the package anywhere.

And then the "recipient" can deny receiving it and get another one or a refund. I have no idea how that works out between the shipper and UPS/Fedex and who pays for it, but I have known lovely people who did stuff like that and then resell the extra item.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2012 02:41

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Dr. Video Games 0050 posted:

And when there is no signature recorded you complain to the shopping company and get it resolved.

I don't know - I have only seen people bitch about shipping companies online. I never had a problem nor heard about it in day to day life.

"shopping company" or "shipping company"?

# ¿ Jul 12, 2012 06:22

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Syrinxx posted:

Usually ships in 3-4 weeks? Fuuuuuck

quote:

Hard Drive
Size: 32 GB
Type: Serial ATA
Speed: 100000 rpm

That's a lot of rpms

# ¿ Jul 15, 2012 20:48

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Horn posted:

Are there any tablets available at retail that fall in between the 7 and 10 inch sizes? The xyboard at 8.2 or the tab at 7.7 & 8.9 are all I can find and they just seem to be wireless exclusives.

iPads are 9.7" :q:

edit: he did ask for tablets between 7" and 10" and didn't specify OS (even though this is the android tablet thread) and there really aren't many options in that window. Sorry if it came across as a threadshit; that wasn't my intention. :shobon:

randyest fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Jul 16, 2012

# ¿ Jul 16, 2012 01:41

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Horn posted:

My wife has an ipad 3 and its a little large. I assumed it was 10" which is kind of a bummer since that turns me off from the Asus prime even more.

Yeah the primes are 10.10" (7.11" x 10.35") so if a pad3 is too big at 9.7" (7.31" x 9.5") that won't work for you unless the different aspect ratio helps somehow. There's not a lot in the 8.5" territory unless you want to go super minimalistic -- what do you want to be able to do with it? Just e-read? Notes? Movies? Games? All of the above?

# ¿ Jul 16, 2012 02:21

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

General_Failure posted:

Ainol Elf II. The II is the important bit. That is the dual core with dual Mali 400 GPUs. The Aurora II is the IPS touchscreen version and the Paladin is the MIPS based one, which apparently also utilizes a scary sounding program called Code Magic which can run ARM native apks on a MIPS platform.

Is that where the semi-native emulation kicks in? This stuff is so interesting to me so thanks for sharing your knowledge and understanding in a way I can understand it somewhat. I have to admit I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about the ARM architecture and emulation as you are so I really appreciate you sharing your expertise.

For those of you who haven't been following the General's highly informative posts in the other thread you can start here to get up to speed. It is great to know I can get a couple of Ainol's for less than the cost of one nexus 7! My wife and I will be enjoying our dual Ainols instead of driving all over town or waiting for nexus 7's to ship!

# ¿ Jul 16, 2012 07:42

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Rohaq posted:

So with the blessing of Thermopyle*, I bring you this news:

I called Google today regarding my Nexus 7 preorder (ordered 28/06). According to them, the first set of preorders for the UK should be going out today and tomorrow.

Hopefully this is true, and I wasn't just fobbed off. I guess we'll see.

*For just this post. Don't go crazy, people.

I am old and reasonably well-read and I have never heard that word (fobbed). I thought you made it up or mangled the spelling of something like that other guy, but it turns out I am just ignorant. Wow, thanks for the new word!

# ¿ Jul 16, 2012 20:21

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

rigeek posted:

Derp. Last time I used the app it was iPhone only. Wow that app is slick.

Yes it is indeed the poo poo but it doesn't get credit for the dictionary -- that's a built in system wide thing. I think Awful Betamax for android is supposed to be similar (but not the original android awful appl which is, well, awful.)

# ¿ Jul 16, 2012 21:08

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

General_Failure posted:

With all the Nexus talk above, I do have my concerns that it'll have a short life in its position, being pushed aside by a wave of more fully featured tablets. They could have extended its appeal so much with just a couple of minor tweaks, but perhaps that was by design. Get it right first time and who would buy another one?
Still don't get why they didn't give the Nexus 7 an SD card. Was it the licensing fee? Sure they could have cheaped out and gone SPI mode on an SD card slot, but that would have gained them a lot of criticism.

If people are wondering what I'm talking about, using a properly supported SD card slot carries a royalty. SPI mode bypasses the special protocol and talks to the card more directly but it is slower. All you really need to talk to an SD card like that is literally power, earth and a few IO lines. It's not hard. I've done it myself.
Such a shame too because I really like the Nexus 7. Spiffy tablet for money, even with the "Australia tax" to a degree.

Good point General_Failure: US$2500/year for an SDIO license is unreasonably steep and really pretty unnecessary for a company like Ainol who is just trying to bring high-quality, low-cost android tablets to the masses without unnecessary cost burdens that just have to be passed on to the consumer. They'd have to sell ~25 of those Ainol Elf II's to pay for just that fee alone, and that's assuming all profit! I bet they have to sell thousands to cover those ridiculous licensing fees from profits.

edit: oh, wait, you mean the Nexus 7, not the Ainol, oops (I figured you were talking about how the Ainol corrupts SD cards and so probably didn't license a proper SDIO stack and instead used some SPI work-around approach.) But isn't $2500/year approximately $0 for a company like google? Maybe the marginal cost to include the SD hole is more than one would assume? Boy this stuff sure is complicated I'm glad you're here G_F to help us understand!

As an aside / follow up to your previous posts, did you ever decide which of you or your lady enjoys the Ainol the most? I'm thinking about giving my wife the Ainol but she really likes Peggle and Bejeweled and games like that, and I hear that those have some issues on the Ainol ellf. Have you tried those at all?

# ¿ Jul 17, 2012 04:22

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Wait, what? There's a software accessible serial number on the nexus 7 tablet that differs from a physical sticker serial number, and you need the latter to get warranty support? It's not even engraved or anything and can just slide or peel off?

:stare:

what possible reason could there be for this? Two serial numbers for a device? One being un-losable but also useless. One easily lost but critical for warranty repair or support?

randyest fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Jul 17, 2012

# ¿ Jul 17, 2012 20:23

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

ThermoPhysical posted:

Yeah, but honestly, that's the most believable post I've ever seen on XDA. Ever.

I mean, I'd expect first batch devices to have some problems anyway. Didn't the Prime have problems with the first batch (and possibly the second)?

This?:

quote:

I just spoke with a Tier 2 Google rep who told me a couple very interesting things. The first is that a software glitch and screen problem have been discovered in the early run of the Nexus 7s, and that the initial devices that 'got out' are going to have a couple of serious issues regarding wifi, as well as glue holding the screen to the body that, in some cases, is causing the screen to actually lift off and separate from the main tablet. They have recalled most of the first wave, and they already have another run in place that corrects the issues. The devices will still be shipped out next week. For those of you (un)lucky enough to have gotten yours early, you may be in for a nasty surprise.

Also, apparently Google is none-too-pleased with the contents of this thread, and will be pursuing action of some sort against the Ronald-McDonald-Cat-QTip-Raping-Whiney-A$$es posting about Google's inability to fold space and time to make the current date and time be 'Mid July', as originally promised.

Yeah, ok. That first part was complete bulls$hit. But I swear that the second part was true. Honest.

Really? The post that says right in it that it is actual bullshit is the most believable to you?

# ¿ Jul 17, 2012 20:59

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Maker Of Shoes posted:

bulls$hit.

Heh, yes you're right, let me fix that:

ThermoPhysical posted:

Yeah, but honestly, that's the most believable post I've ever seen on XDA. Ever.

I mean, I'd expect first batch devices to have some problems anyway. Didn't the Prime have problems with the first batch (and possibly the second)?

This?:

quote:

I just spoke with a Tier 2 Google rep who told me a couple very interesting things. The first is that a software glitch and screen problem have been discovered in the early run of the Nexus 7s, and that the initial devices that 'got out' are going to have a couple of serious issues regarding wifi, as well as glue holding the screen to the body that, in some cases, is causing the screen to actually lift off and separate from the main tablet. They have recalled most of the first wave, and they already have another run in place that corrects the issues. The devices will still be shipped out next week. For those of you (un)lucky enough to have gotten yours early, you may be in for a nasty surprise.

Also, apparently Google is none-too-pleased with the contents of this thread, and will be pursuing action of some sort against the Ronald-McDonald-Cat-QTip-Raping-Whiney-A$$es posting about Google's inability to fold space and time to make the current date and time be 'Mid July', as originally promised.

Yeah, ok. That first part was complete bulls$hit. But I swear that the second part was true. Honest.

Really? The post that says right in it that it is actual bull$hit is the most believable to you?

# ¿ Jul 17, 2012 21:04

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Unless I'm missing something Rastor's link leads to almost 75 Android apps that are designed to work with Android tablets and take advantage of that extra screen real estate, and he also alluded to the fact that well-coded Android phone apps will automatically switch up and make use of tablet screen real estate, such as:

After carefully evaluating those suggestions, the conclusion I reached is that those 75 tablet-specific apps aren't well coded, and some unspecified, unnamed, unsearchable subset of the other android phone apps are well coded and will be awesome. The non-well-coded others will look like this:

At least it's not too cramped/crowded/busy. Happy hunting!

# ¿ Jul 19, 2012 05:09

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Rastor posted:

Ah, using a screenshot of Skype this time. And in German! What a refreshing change from the usual choice, Twitter.

Skype and twitter and most android apps look like stretched poo poo on tablets so what's your point? Is it a problem that needs to be addressed or is it all A-OK as-is in your opinion? You keep posting those links to "15 not too terrible apps you can sort of barely use on your android tablet" as if there are enough dedicated android tablet apps to cover basic requirements, but then say android phone apps on tablets are just fine when they look like what everyone has seen, then you say they should / would / will / maybe one day scale up and not look like poo poo. I can't keep up with your position v :shobon:

v. Why did you pass up the opportunity to show a sweet screenshot of an awesome tablet-optimized android skype app, in any language?

Has anything changed since this?
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401676,00.asp

I seriously want it to but people like you constantly defending absolute poo poo make it less likely it will ever happen.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2012 06:13

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Star War Sex Parrot posted:

We're not doing this debate again. It goes in circles every time. Both methods have their trade-offs.

You are correct and I really wasn't trying to rehash that; I was lamenting the lack of android apps using the third method: an actual tablet specific app.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2012 07:39

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

dissss posted:

You can have a tablet specific layout without needing a tablet specific app.

I'd consider those very rare cases to be "universal" apps and just as good if not better than a tablet-specific app.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2012 13:28

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

teethgrinder posted:

Flipboard is pretty nacent on Android, I would expect this to change. (But I wouldn't ditch an iPad and buy a Nexus until it does.)

Why would you expect flipboard to make a tablet version for android when they've said there are no plans to do so?

http://gigaom.com/mobile/flipboard-launches-on-android-phones-no-plans-for-a-tablet-app/

quote:

While the move to Android phones has been long-awaited, 'ÂÂs marketing executive Marci McCue said there is no rush to build a version for larger Android tablets and it isn't on the company'ÂÂs roadmap.

"We focus on taking one step at a time. As far as tablets go, the biggest player is the iPad. WeÃ¢ÂÂll watch the (tablet) market but right now the market is the iPad," said McCue. She said there may be some Android devices that have undergone less testing for the Flipboard app, but she said it should work for most higher-end devices.

I wonder why they wouldn't just do that easy thing where you make it all universal like the awful Betamax app?

Edit: \/\/\/ how would I know what you're aware of ? I was just asking what you based your expectation on.

randyest fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Jul 19, 2012

# ¿ Jul 19, 2012 20:53

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

atehist posted:

I know I'm stuck with a broken and useless piece of poo poo device. I'm not even going to bother trying to deal with Asus/Google as literally no one would believe me about a screen breaking on its own.

I'm not advocating this, and it maybe illegal and/or immoral, but I'd be a little tempted to say it arrived that way. Maybe it did and you didn't notice?

# ¿ Jul 20, 2012 00:31

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Syrinxx posted:

Well the tablet Facebook app is just as lovely and slow and battery hogging as the phone one. Can anyone recommend a full FB replacement app with a nice tablet layout? Extra thanks if its a twitter/foursquare client too. Thanks

Flipbook.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2012 08:57

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

UncleGuito posted:

Overall, I'm just waiting for tablet versions of Flipboard, Spotify, & Twitter and I will feel comfortable selling off the iPad.

You might be waiting a long time; flipboard said an android tablet version is not on their road map. Maybe that'll change if the nexus 7 sells well enough but that was what they said last month. I'm with you though -- that's an awesome must-have app and the phone version doesn't cut it.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2012 19:49

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

chemosh6969 posted:

Depending on the apps you use, it can be required. Like video players where you can only transfer videos through the app while in iTunes.

You're not required to use apps that use iTunes to transfer videos, since there are plenty that can wifi sync or copy/transcode/stream from a PC/mac/NAS/DLNA...

You might say it's all about choices and freedom.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2012 02:16

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Timby posted:

How is the Nexus 7 for productivity work, like, say, a teacher working on student portfolios that could then be synced to the desktop and distributed to parents via Google Docs?

I'm not sure what kind of portfolio you mean but tablets generally aren't very good for lots of typing and document creation. External keyboards help, but laptops tend to be better even then because you can use a mouse or touchpad to move around, select, menus etc.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2012 23:53

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Kynetx posted:

I can't speak for any of the subsequent releases, but the TF-101 displays the serial number in Settings-System-About Tablet-Status.

Some people are finding on the prime at least that the sticker serial number doesn't match the one you can see in the settings menu, and only one or the other works for things like registration or RMAs. I'd definitely suggest saving that sticker.

Slo-Tek posted:

So, if you left your tablet in Detroit, what would you do?

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3489105

# ¿ Jul 31, 2012 01:34

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Evil Robot posted:

I also think the "Permissions" screen is not the best user experience, but it's better than on iPhone where any app can do anything to your system.

That is the opposite of how iOS works.

randyest fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Aug 3, 2012

# ¿ Aug 3, 2012 04:51

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Shadowgate posted:

It looks about normal for 3 hours of straight usage. Maybe a bit too much drain but I've noticed it seems to take a few days for the battery calibration to be accurate. See how it performs over the next week. You should be able to get about 5-6 hours of constant heavy usage on the N7.

According to the charts in the OP of the "recommend me a tablet" thread (which I think come from the anandtech review) he should be getting a lot more than that unless he's doing 100% constant 3d gaming at high brightness.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2012 06:35

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Tunga posted:

And specifically the retailer must replace it within six months unless they can prove that it was not faulty at purchase. The burden of proof is on them.

Thats easy. You ship it back to them for replacement, they hit it with a hammer and send you a pic "see this is what we got, you obviously broke it, we'll repair it for $300 or send it back as-is for $100 evaluation fee :v:

"

Moral of the story: take pics and/or videos including on-screen device serial number and today's newspaper or whatever before you send anything in for repair or replacement.

Edit: that's assuming you bought it online. If you can take it back to a store obviously do that.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2012 23:47

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Tunga posted:

This kind of thing just doesn't happen with UK-based retailers because we have extremely good consumer protection laws. The retailer is just going to send it back to the manufacturer, they have no reason to smash it up and screw you over, it's more effort than just processing the return.

This is not to say that taking a picture is a bad idea, but it's a whole different world to the kind of bullshit that apparently happens in the US.

Edit:

Yeah I understand that for retail, and it's pretty much the same in the US for returns to retail shops (though only 30 days or sometimes less, not 6 months or whatever min you guys get.) I was talking about online orders where you have to ship back to the online retailer or, worse, the manufacturer? What's the UK consumer protection law for that? If you ship it back to ASUS directly then ... ?

# ¿ Aug 21, 2012 03:03

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

limited posted:

I've had a delve through the thread, and not managed to notice it being discussed, but does this note on the Market for the Adobe Flash Player basically mean Android is going to be as gimped as the iOS at some point with regards to flash content unless it's device X? Or am I just reading it wrong? The link itself is broken so no useful info there.

I've only just found something that I can read PDF's reliably on that isn't a desktop and this shows up!

What does flash have to do with PDF reading? As has been mentioned already, you can save the flash app apk for android and use it as long as the OS supports it, and on iOS there's the iSwifter app which is the same thing as android flash except it's $5 and is supported and updated.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2012 01:50

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Which is the best ~10" android tablet these days?

# ¿ Sep 11, 2012 07:36

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

dissss posted:

I'd say one of the Tegra 3 Asus models (which depends on budget I guess)

Is the asus transformer infinity the top of the line? Anything new on the horizon that might challenge it?

# ¿ Sep 11, 2012 08:08

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:

The only way to backup application data without root is to use ADB's backup command, which was only added in 4.0. Everything else is stored in the cloud, so you don't need to back it up. As it stands right now, if you don't want to lose your Angry Birds scores when you're flashing ROMs or whatever the cool kids are doing these days, you have to use ADB and backup with a computer or root and use something like Titanium Backup to save stuff to your SD card.

e: for what it's worth I didn't need to do anything when I switched phones. My new one redownloaded all my poo poo after I logged in.

What about logins / passwords?

# ¿ Sep 19, 2012 07:24

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:

WiFi passwords are restored. I think now passwords saved in Chrome will restore as well, but my old phone didn't have Chrome. I didn't have anything else that required passwords.

I haven't tried but Internet searches seem to indicate logins and passwords and desktop icon/widget placement are not restored by ADB. Anyone actually try it and know for sure?

# ¿ Sep 19, 2012 07:44

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

spincube posted:

Chrome/Browser auto-sync, plus a combo of Keepass and Google Drive. If you're talking about logging into everything on your device again automatically (eg Facebook, Twitter), I'd imagine that it would be a massive security risk.

I'm thinking of that too. Why would it be a security risk with a password-protected encrypted backup?

# ¿ Sep 19, 2012 07:48

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

LastInLine posted:

Because if ADB can do it so could an apk in certain situations.

That seems like a not good situation. Why should apps have equal access as a user-initiated backup?

# ¿ Sep 19, 2012 08:40

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

LoSesMC posted:

I'm having an issue with my Nexus 7 where it'll periodically act like my headphones have been unplugged, cutting off what I've been listening to, and even sometimes playing through the speaker while I still have the 'phones plugged in. Anybody else?

Look inside the headphone jack hole and use compressed air or something to blow out any dust or lint. Failing that, RMA it.

# ¿ Sep 21, 2012 05:52

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Endless Mike posted:

By law, they should unless they can somehow prove that altering the software led to a hardware problem. Whether they will follow that or not is entirely debatable.

Which law is that? US law? Not doubting, just curious.

# ¿ Sep 24, 2012 18:26

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

bull3964 posted:

It has to do with the hardness of the materials involved and how focused the impact is. If the belt buckle metal is harder than the glass and it impacted at a point, it will break any glass without much force.

For example, just watch any youtube video of the ceramic spark plug tips shattering car windows.

This is the correct answer. Anything BGR reports as rumor ranks up there in the LEAST likely thing to happen.

Your point stands, but it doesn't really require the striking material to be harder than the target. For example, no metal is harder than glass, in the technical (mohs scale) sense, but as we all know (and he found out) its pretty easy to break glass with metal.

# ¿ Sep 27, 2012 18:38

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:

Tungsten and chromium are both harder than ordinary glass.

That's true, thank you for the correction. I wonder how they compare to gorilla glass. Does ASUS use gorilla glass (or other almunosilicate glass thingy?) I also wonder how many belt buckles are made of tungsten or chromium

Star War Sex Parrot posted:

You guys argue about the dumbest poo poo.

Not much else to do in here but point taken I'll shut up.

# ¿ Sep 27, 2012 19:44

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 16, 2024 23:07

randyest: Sep 1, 2004; by R. Guyovich

Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:

Probably a lot! Chromium is what makes stainless steel corrosion resistant.

Is stainless steel alloy with a little bit of chromium in it as hard as pure chromium?

# ¿ Sep 27, 2012 21:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Android Tablet Thread: Defend Your Other Purchase

«‹›3 »