Related
Hey everyone
So my situation, I was fortunate to earn a free ipad wifi/3g 16gb from a sales contest at work, well Ive played with the thing for a few weeks and I have to say apple blows. Anyways gunna sell it on ebay, looking like I can get about $450 for it.
I then want to take the money and buy an android tablet, i really want a honeycomb one, but I know they are very expensive as they are just coming out.
So I thought to myself why couldn't I just buy a tablet that comes with Froyo, and then root it, and flash a custom honeycomb rom once a developer ports it over to my device..? It would save me alot of cash/waiting
So a few questions about that
1. Any hardware concerns or min specs that I should look for to make sure it can run honeycomb?
2. Is there alot of developers out there making custom roms for tablets? I havent seen much on here..? Is there another site that is tablet specific?
3. If the I can get those questions answered what tablet would you recomend?
I only need wifi, dont need 3g, I would like something a little smaller than the ipad, price range is $450 or less, and the use will just be for web browsing, playing games, etc...
Thanks!!!
A question for the community: I'm in the market for a tablet, and have taken my sweet time for the last 3 months looking for the best one to buy. I've done my fair share of research and now i'm asking you: Should I buy the ASUS Transformer Prime with the dock, od should i wait for samsung/htc/moto/lenovo/acer... next-gen tablet? My fear is you see, that I'll buy The Prime, and that it won't be supported by some software develeopers, and left out in the cold with some apps, or not on par with the next-gen 2012 tablets. I want the best hardware specs, possible future windows 8 compatibility, preferably tegra device, and don't mind waiting for a few more months since this would be my first tablet. NO IOS/IPad talk please. Any reasonable advice is more than welcome, and thank you all in advance!
Obviously you can see that there is a woot special today on the gtablet, simply based on all the threads that are redundantly getting posted.
However here is the downstream effect. There are many purchasers that are all being pointed to Droidpirate or XDA, and several links being added to the discussions, etc.
Once the tablets all come in, obviously there will be a percentage of users that just won't be happy with the tablet (thus ebay will be flooded with them, as will the XDA forum), but those willing to hack will join up.
Membership and post counts will most likely increase dramatically.
Some very funny comments if you have time to read the questions and comments by both Gtablet fans, Xoom fans, Nook fans, and even IPad fans!
http://www.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=4394837
Bring it on, the more devs working on this tablet, the more fun it becomes!
I'm a newbie!
I just picked up my GTablet from Tiger for 340 sale. Happy as a clam with Vegan Tab installed. Hope they keep up the great pricing on the GTablet. My friend is hating my new tablet as I don't have to resample video to actually play on the GTablet!
I agree. I just picked one up from woot for 308 with taxes. The price is too good to pass up.
just got one at woot for 279 sweet.. not have to start researching rooting and the best firmware
I've had mine for a few weeks and love it! (w/ VEGan 5.1.1 of COURSE). I also fell prey to the IPAD experience and bought the IPAD2. As soon I I turned it on I knew I F'd up. while I love the IPAD for its brain dead ease of use, I dont need the cameras. SOOO, I'm going to sell it and get the 1st gen IPAD and some cash to buy ANOTHER G-Tab. I still can't believe it's so cheap for a Tegra 2, Alternative for Honeycomb (fingers crossed).
Grabbed one from woot today, I'll be coming over from the nook color forums.
I too ordered up a gtablet today from woot. I've been keeping an eye out for the best price and today was the day...been contemplating on getting one for a few months.
I've also been lurking the gtablet forums here on XDA to get an idea of what kind dev support there was for it and was surprised when I first start following this device. I joined not to long for some Droid X support and now I can't wait till the gtablet arrives.
lol i was about to post this cause i just ordered one while waiting for enough funds for a xoom. I was juggling between this and the archos 101 but with the price of 285, how can i NOT get this?
I sold my NookColor about a month ago. Loved it but there was stuff I was still desiring. I had no idea what this was before I saw it on WOOT today, but I sold my old NetBook on ebay for $300 and bought this from WOOT. I'm pumped, I just with shipping was faster!
I'm one of the unwashed masses coming here since they dove in to the Woot pool.
I have an Archos 70 with their stock 2.2 ROM. The Quadrant scores on the gTab is double what I am getting on my A70. Looking forward to seeing what the gTab is like in optimized form.
What is the consensus on the best ROM image to use for all around usability: The Notion Ink, Vegan or other?
Yet another new dude...
Have a rooted Slide with CM7 RC2. Been looking for a decent hackable android tablet and the G-Tablet fits the bill. Can't wait till it gets here and I finally get a chance to play around with it! My bro is an Apple fanatic and has been trying to convince me to get an iPad but I'm not a huge fan of iOS or Apple's hardware.
Another here, been thinking about a tablet for awhile. I haven't tinkered in a long time, this will be a fun little toy to hack on.
The gtab is a great first tablet. Its not the perfect tablet but people should appreciate its speed. Its also a great device to learn how to root and customize an android device. All the people who took advantage of this deal are some lucky mofos.
xmr405o said:
The gtab is a great first tablet. Its not the perfect tablet but people should appreciate its speed. Its also a great device to learn how to root and customize an android device. All the people who took advantage of this deal are some lucky mofos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, this gtab is my first android tablet and I think I did a great investment, I´m learning a lot and thanx to the valuable help of member like Roebeet Im running tntlite 4.2.5 smoothly
count me in with the wootsheep
another wooter...
...coming over from the nook running honeycomb, I wonder if there will be a flood of nooks on eBay?
grabbed one too. Cannot pass for this price.
Getting rid of my nook color
I just called Viewsonic Customer Service
....they didn't even know about the woot.com sale going on. I told them that they might want to get some more staff in about 7-10 business days.
Hello all!!
I have been surfing these forums, and am blown away by the user base behind the G-Tablet... yes I too have woot-ed my way into owning one, and can't wait for it to arrive (although it might be a longer wait then I would like, lol)
I just wanted to show my appreciation to all the people here who have put so much work into unlocking this device.
You can see how great you guys are, even by Roebeet calling up ViewSonic, to give them the warning, LOL
ha! I also have a rooted nook. Maybe I'll actually use it now to read a book
Just wanted to know what everyone uses theirs for/plans to use theirs for, so maybe we could share ideas and whatnot.
Personally, I use mine for a few reasons.
The first being is that I'm into photography, and while it's nice to have a physical portfolio to walk around with, I like having a digital one to carry around as well. I also use photoshop mobile sometimes to quickly edit photos on the fly to show to people as I'm taking them.
Another reason is for baseball uses of which I have a few. I can keep score on it using iScore, which is a REALLY nice analysis program. I also plan on using it for MLB At Bat where I can watch games live with my MLB.tv account.
I also use it for the widgets. I have it set up as a digital photo frame at work, but my boss thinks it's a great idea to allow me to have the widgets open which show me the scores of my favorite teams, what people are doing on facebook, the news, etc. That way, I'm not wasting time browsing the web while at work, and I can glance over and find out what I want to know. It's also nice to use as a digital photo frame.
And, of course, I use it as a portable media player.
What do you guys use yours for?
My gtab is my primary device for internet browsing when I'm at home. I let my family use the desktop when all I want to do is go on the internet. I stream a lot of video with my gtab. I also use it for casual gaming and emulators like n64, snes and gba. My gtab is great for long road trips too. It keeps the kids at ease and off my nerves. its a portable entertainment device which pretty much replaced my indash dvd player and headrest monitors. I mean I still have them installed in my car but my kids hardly use it anymore because they rather watch the movies I have on my thumbdrive or play snes, psx,gba with a wiimote.
Browsing forums, news sites and looking up IMDB and Wikipedia while watching telly.
Also for keeping up with work email and Gmail when away from my PC. And occasionally reading twitter.
One day I'll get around to trying out video
Check out this thread starting around Dec last year..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=889727
Just a suggestion for the new members of the gtablet forum, before you start a new thread, please try the search feature and you would probably discover two things
1) how bad the search is - sorry to say it, it is true that it is hard to find the right info..
2) how much other info you can find.
Good luck and welcome to the club!
tyy10002 said:
Check out this thread starting around Dec last year..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=889727
Just a suggestion for the new members of the gtablet forum, before you start a new thread, please try the search feature and you would probably discover two things
1) how bad the search is - sorry to say it, it is true that it is hard to find the right info..
2) how much other info you can find.
Good luck and welcome to the club!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jan 4th was the last post!?!??! that was deep in the bowels of the threads huh? I'm sure we have room on the forums to have another "what do you use your "insert device here"" thread lol
10 people probably had the gtab 3 months ago. Now we have 10,000+ new ones coming lol
I doubt all 10,000 units sold will turn into 10,000 new board members. I'd guess a third of that can be arsed to join, fewer still will have the courage to try the new ROMs.
Personally, I intend to do a lot of reading before I post a bunch of n00b threads about Y CANT I PLAY ASTEROIDZ?? or whatever.
tyy10002 said:
Just a suggestion for the new members of the gtablet forum, before you start a new thread, please try the search feature and you would probably discover two things
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the board culture concerning the resurrecting of zombie threads? I know some boards frown on it, some boards have an "age limit" (few months, usually) and some boards don't care.
My tablet I strictly a casual device!!!!fun and surf!!!!
web browsing around the house..email..some gaming...movies in the car on the road. beyond that they are somewhat limited. I really can't understand the rush to spend $800 on a newer model that basically does the same thing.
At least its driving down the price on g tablets so i will probably grab a second soon!
mpguy84 said:
Jan 4th was the last post!?!??! that was deep in the bowels of the threads huh? I'm sure we have room on the forums to have another "what do you use your "insert device here"" thread lol
10 people probably had the gtab 3 months ago. Now we have 10,000+ new ones coming lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not saying you cannot start a new thread, I am saying that there are many good info you can find from the old threads. In some cases, you may find something interesting.. We are getting more people now, and in last weeks, I am seeing a lot of new threads/questions. Good info/discussion/threads are quickly buried deep unless they are sticky. Roebeet or other senior members of the forum are trying hard to info the new members..
mpguy84 said:
Jan 4th was the last post!?!??! that was deep in the bowels of the threads huh? I'm sure we have room on the forums to have another "what do you use your "insert device here"" thread lol
10 people probably had the gtab 3 months ago. Now we have 10,000+ new ones coming lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot more people than 10. There was more than 3 custom roms 3 months ago!
xmr405o said:
My gtab is my primary device for internet browsing when I'm at home. I let my family use the desktop when all I want to do is go on the internet. I stream a lot of video with my gtab. I also use it for casual gaming and emulators like n64, snes and gba. My gtab is great for long road trips too. It keeps the kids at ease and off my nerves. its a portable entertainment device which pretty much replaced my indash dvd player and headrest monitors. I mean I still have them installed in my car but my kids hardly use it anymore because they rather watch the movies I have on my thumbdrive or play snes, psx,gba with a wiimote.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for asking, as a business tool, a digital dashboard. The quickest way to access my c-panel, website, surf the web and respond to communications.
I use mine to carry invoices, data and software for my computer repair business when I'm on the road. I also use it as a car audio Bluetooth stream device directly to my amps. As well a the obvious to keep up on forums, Facebook and surf. And of course to just root and ROM...
Sent from my G-Tab using Tapatalk
I carry mine to work and use it as a Pandora player and weather/news updater so I don't have to use any of my work displays for these things. Also have several remote admin tools to check on servers, etc.
At home, this is hands-down the best bathroom computer in history. All the e-magazines and forums ... and now - streaming movies from Amazon too.
I am also absolutely queer for Wordsmith Free (if you ever play against me, be very afraid!)
nunjabusiness said:
At home, this is hands-down the best bathroom computer in history.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha this is currently the job of my Evo, but for that morning poo, when I don't have my contacts in, the bigger screen will be a godsend.
Picked this G-tab up on Woot the other day so I could have some kind of device to use while on dialysis. More than likely I'll use it for heavy web surfing, moderate game play, weather, sports, streaming movies to it, portable media player, etc, etc. I'm really looking forward to getting this device. Not so enthused on having to pick between CyanogenMod, Zpad clean, TnT Lite, or VEGAn tab. Going to be tough.
General lightweight use
My workstation is a desktop. So, I use my Gtab mostly around the office for taking notes in meetings, checking email and a lightweight web browsing platform.
For personal use, I like to play 3D games on it and use it as my main kindle reading device.
I do most of my web surfing on mine.
Bought the dock a while back and started using it as a media center as well.
Plus, got a Gametel so I also use it to play all my old favorite 8 and 16 bit games.
Oh, and I let my nephews and nieces play games on it to keep them off my gaming rig.
Since I bought the G Tablet I rarely mess with my pc anymore outside of Borderlands 2 and Skyrim.
I primarily use mine as a very large very cool alarm clock. But also for browsing the web & email.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium
I use my Gtab for web browsing, e-reading, and email. I'm just starting with app development and it's also a great bargain tablet test platform for me.
I'm currently using mine to collect dust on my desk. It won't power up any longer. No idea why.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using XDA Premium HD app
Hello everyone. Im a student from a high school in Costa Rica. (Sorry if I make some mistake writing, english isnt my native language ) Me, some friends and a teacher made a group called "Artech", for promoting the use of art and technology. Im the tech part.
I have been using my transformer as a notebook all this year, and it has been really useful. I use it for all the assignatures. Everything with polaris office, math, chemistry and physics with supernote (really awesome).
School's principal has been very happy of how we use tabs/pcs as notebooks. So we decided to take the project to a higher level giving everyone a tab/pc for school use.
As people around here know A LOT of things i actually dont know, id like to ask some questions:
- TF101 w/ dock might be a good replacemt for books/notebooks? Is there some economic tab better than this?
- You now any other apps we can use for this? We are currently using: Splashtop for viewing everything from the virtual boards, supernote for math and all those things, box for shaing all the documents from teachers to students and viseversa and polaris.
Any help, comment, oppinion, etc, would be really apppreciated thanks!
having first hand experience with the transformer for the use-cases you're interested in, aren't you equally (if not more so) an expert on your own questions?
but from my point of view, definitely yes. note-taking, reading ebooks, etc, tablets definitely are perfectly suitable. for things like taking notes for math equations and stuff, maybe not so much. but i guess if the entire school is going digital, the teacher might just digitize the notes, and distribute an ebook or whatever. (although you miss out on the actual act of taking notes, which some consider help in memorization)
in terms of cost, there's a new tab coming out, the nexus tablet which is supposed to be on par hardware-wise with the prime, but around the price-range of kindle fire. so i'd say do research on that, and wait. it will be made by asus so it's possible that it will also have a keyboard dock, but i'm not sure.
kindle fire is also an alternative, but no keyboard dock.
no offense, just curious: but how is your school paying for these? are you in one of those private international schools?
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2
finalhit said:
having first hand experience with the transformer for the use-cases you're interested in, aren't you equally (if not more so) an expert on your own questions?
but from my point of view, definitely yes. note-taking, reading ebooks, etc, tablets definitely are perfectly suitable. for things like taking notes for math equations and stuff, maybe not so much. but i guess if the entire school is going digital, the teacher might just digitize the notes, and distribute an ebook or whatever. (although you miss out on the actual act of taking notes, which some consider help in memorization)
in terms of cost, there's a new tab coming out, the nexus tablet which is supposed to be on par hardware-wise with the prime, but around the price-range of kindle fire. so i'd say do research on that, and wait. it will be made by asus so it's possible that it will also have a keyboard dock, but i'm not sure.
kindle fire is also an alternative, but no keyboard dock.
no offense, just curious: but how is your school paying for these? are you in one of those private international schools?
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, I am. But obviously, school isnt going to pay 400 TF without gaining something. It just like for persons that still doesnt have its onw pc/tab, or parents that dont allow their kids to take their laptops/tabs to school cause its too dangerous. How are we planing to get them??
Well, lets say that the TF is like 500$. Every month, we need to pay for staying there. So, when people do all the registration stuff for staying on school, there will be a contract, saying that you will be paying some extra bucks per month for having the tab. It will be like 40$ more per month.
Why parent will accept buying tabs instead of buying books/notebooks every year? Isnt more expensie? Well, No. If you count all the money you spend buying materials and notebooks in 2 year it will be more that having a tab, and the tab last longer.
Sorry f i did a mess writting all the info, im not really good at english, so..... And im not the best writter ever.... actually, this is my 1st post/comment, etc on xda. So...If you got any question/sugerence im here
Ugalde97 said:
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, I am. But obviously, school isnt going to pay 400 TF without gaining something. It just like for persons that still doesnt have its onw pc/tab, or parents that dont allow their kids to take their laptops/tabs to school cause its too dangerous. How are we planing to get them??
Well, lets say that the TF is like 500$. Every month, we need to pay for staying there. So, when people do all the registration stuff for staying on school, there will be a contract, saying that you will be paying some extra bucks per month for having the tab. It will be like 40$ more per month.
Why parent will accept buying tabs instead of buying books/notebooks every year? Isnt more expensie? Well, No. If you count all the money you spend buying materials and notebooks in 2 year it will be more that having a tab, and the tab last longer.
Sorry f i did a mess writting all the info, im not really good at english, so..... And im not the best writter ever.... actually, this is my 1st post/comment, etc on xda. So...If you got any question/sugerence im here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tranquilo Mae. Your English is fine.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
off topic: i'm glad kids in your country are making an effort to learn and use tools like the TF. kids at my high school would just play angry birds all day lol
Being in university, I find the transformer useful. But not as good as it could be. The only issue I have with it is not having a pen. I have a few capacitive pens (adonit Jot, and a generic rubber tip), but they're not as good as something with a dedicated digitizer.
I'm always keeping an eye out for something with a digitizer, and the ones I've seen are the Xoom 2, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, HTC flyer (I wouldn't get this as the screen is too small)
This is coming from the perspective from studying engineering. There's always symbols, diagrams, and equations that are used all the time, thus my need for a pen. But for highschool, an android tablet should be sufficient. It's waaay easier to carry around one tablet than 3 textbooks.
That's my only issue.
As for reading and making notes on PDF's I use two apps, Repligo and EZPdf.
EZPdf is great for making notes, I would say it's better than Repligo in this aspect because you can pan while writing.
However, Repligo is better when opening large PDF's. I constantly open 300+ page pdfs in the form of text books, and I've never had issues with them.
I also use Andie Graph as a calculator if needed (that said, it's still not as good as my ti-92)
There's also a new physics app called ForceEffect by autodesk. I haven't had a chance to really play with it, but it seems useful for basic static physics problems if you're having trouble understanding.
Hope that helps
I suggest Adonit Jot with LectureNotes. There is a trial version of LecureNotes on PlayStore.
xun3 said:
Being in university, I find the transformer useful. But not as good as it could be. The only issue I have with it is not having a pen. I have a few capacitive pens (adonit Jot, and a generic rubber tip), but they're not as good as something with a dedicated digitizer.
I'm always keeping an eye out for something with a digitizer, and the ones I've seen are the Xoom 2, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, HTC flyer (I wouldn't get this as the screen is too small)
This is coming from the perspective from studying engineering. There's always symbols, diagrams, and equations that are used all the time, thus my need for a pen. But for highschool, an android tablet should be sufficient. It's waaay easier to carry around one tablet than 3 textbooks.
That's my only issue.
As for reading and making notes on PDF's I use two apps, Repligo and EZPdf.
EZPdf is great for making notes, I would say it's better than Repligo in this aspect because you can pan while writing.
However, Repligo is better when opening large PDF's. I constantly open 300+ page pdfs in the form of text books, and I've never had issues with them.
I also use Andie Graph as a calculator if needed (that said, it's still not as good as my ti-92)
There's also a new physics app called ForceEffect by autodesk. I haven't had a chance to really play with it, but it seems useful for basic static physics problems if you're having trouble understanding.
Hope that helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks everyone for the reply! I havent cheked xda lately because of exams.....
Well, the pen may not be an issue because, as every teacher have its own computer in class, they just give us their doc and we take notes while she/he explains the theory and all that stuff. This is a lot faster and efficients that retyping everythign again. So all we need to do is write on the document section "notes". The pen will be only used for math and somethimes chemistry/physics. But everypen will work, even the finger, at least for me, isnt uncomfortable.
EZPdf might be a really good program, thanks for the recomendation. As we will buy virtual licenses instead of books, a good programs might be good, and the taking notes parts looks awesome.
ForceEffect looks really good but, looks kinda complicated so ill be playing with it for checking if it will work. Thanks very much for the reply, im very happy and for the other people to.
And again, sorry for my bad english.
chatch15117 said:
off topic: i'm glad kids in your country are making an effort to learn and use tools like the TF. kids at my high school would just play angry birds all day lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, thats something you can see ALLWAYS. Thats why we are making teachers to monitorate all the computers on class. So, every person that is on fb, playing or making dirty stuff, will be punished
I think there is nothing like this but, is there any way every TF can, like connect to the internet, and get monitored?
Check Evernote - for me the best note taking and sharing app. It also has desktop version. You might instead like Springpad, they're quite similar, it's just the matter of taste and needs.
Ugalde97 said:
Hello everyone. Im a student from a high school in Costa Rica. (Sorry if I make some mistake writing, english isnt my native language ) Me, some friends and a teacher made a group called "Artech", for promoting the use of art and technology. Im the tech part.
I have been using my transformer as a notebook all this year, and it has been really useful. I use it for all the assignatures. Everything with polaris office, math, chemistry and physics with supernote (really awesome).
School's principal has been very happy of how we use tabs/pcs as notebooks. So we decided to take the project to a higher level giving everyone a tab/pc for school use.
As people around here know A LOT of things i actually dont know, id like to ask some questions:
- TF101 w/ dock might be a good replacemt for books/notebooks? Is there some economic tab better than this?
- You now any other apps we can use for this? We are currently using: Splashtop for viewing everything from the virtual boards, supernote for math and all those things, box for shaing all the documents from teachers to students and viseversa and polaris.
Any help, comment, oppinion, etc, would be really apppreciated thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Galaxy Note 10.1 that comes out in a week will include support for the Wacomb driven S Pen (a professional graphics level digitizer), and the operating system and software will be built entirely around the use of the stylus. If you do a Google or YouTube search for "Galaxy Note Premium Suite Review", you'll be able to see what kind of support and features are built in to the device and the possibilities of using such a device for school. While the galaxy note is a phone, they're releasing a tablet version. It will have all of the features the Galaxy Note has, plus more! And it will be built around a large form factor, with superior math, image editing, drawing, and handwriting support (which will be good for those who are not used to a combination of touching and typing. Being that its an android tablet, you can pair it with a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse, and use it just like a laptop.
So you could write on it during the day, and pair it with a keyboard to type the really long papers! And its much much faster than the transformer, and software like splash top still works!
Search in youtube for the "galaxy note 10.1" and "galaxy Note premium suite" so see a demo. You can also search for "s note Demo" to see the built in math software, and note taking application. It's extremely powerful, and the software even includes handwriting recognition.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium HD app
Hello all. First time post. Let me start off by thanking you for accepting me into this fine community.
I had to chuckle while reading some excellent posts on the good and bad points when it came to some of the performance and features of the Infinity.
The reason for the chuckle was because I had this forum opened in one tab of my browser, and Amazon opened in another. I had actually been looking over the contents on my shopping cart. In it was one(1) ASUS Infinity tablet. I placed the item there a few days ago, but for some reason I couldn't get myself to hit the "Submit Order" button. Something just didn't feel right about the purchase. The decision over which tablet to choose is becoming more and more confusing. With talk about what may or may not be available in the not too distant future re: New iPad, Windows 8, etc etc really has me hesitating at this juncture.
My two daughters each purchased the new iPad so at least I have an opportunity to get a feel of what that product has to offer. Unfortunately, detaching them from their new toy has been a struggle all its own. One of the main reasons for my looking at products other than Apple is that their products seems SO proprietary.
In any case, I think that I will keep visiting this forum for a while longer before I make a final decision as to which tablet to choose. My apologies for the long-winded post. Peter
Hi Peter,
Deciding what Tablet you want for yourself is a very personal decision. If you really don't care about the environment (iOS vs Android) and are just a casual user - I do have a recommendation. At the risk of being flamed, I would say to get an iPad.
It comes down to this: Apps make the ecosystem. While android is gaining in applications and games, and just put out a huge checklist for Tablet developers, apple has a better application and gaming experience for the average user. You are absolutely subject to the proprietary OS, but most people don't care. It's good enough.
I love android (and I suspect that many others do as well) for a few reasons. It's mine. It's fully customizable and I can but really cool community built OS's Recovieries, etc on it. I've learned a lot about how devices work and the things most people don't see. That said, I've had my share of problems too. Many users don't know enough and brick their devices trying to do something that sounds cool but they don't fully understand. If you're a casual user there is no need to get caught up in it. Apple does in fact set the standard for hardware and Android will briefly surpass it, but it's always a tight race. Also, there are a lot more accessories for the iPad then any tablet device. I also love it because I enjoy pushing the envelope and making things better. Finally I love the community around android. It's awesome that I see the same usernames popping up across our little section of XDA helping each other out, supporting each other, joking around, and disagreeing even. It's fun.
Also, for the casual user you can go to a nearby apple store and get your issues fixed if you mess something up.
The first decision you make should be an ecosystem/environmental one. Also, if you don't have itunes there is a bit of a learning curve. I don't think that Apple products have that "intuitive feel" everyone claims. Android just seems harder because there is more customization that can take place.
Before I get flamed - I'm not advocating for Apple or the iPad, but I am advocating for really thinking about what kind of device you want and what you want to get out of it before you make your decision.
Good luck and if you have you have more questions, we're happy to help!
Osteele said:
Hello all. First time post. Let me start off by thanking you for accepting me into this fine community.
I had to chuckle while reading some excellent posts on the good and bad points when it came to some of the performance and features of the Infinity.
The reason for the chuckle was because I had this forum opened in one tab of my browser, and Amazon opened in another. I had actually been looking over the contents on my shopping cart. In it was one(1) ASUS Infinity tablet. I placed the item there a few days ago, but for some reason I couldn't get myself to hit the "Submit Order" button. Something just didn't feel right about the purchase. The decision over which tablet to choose is becoming more and more confusing. With talk about what may or may not be available in the not too distant future re: New iPad, Windows 8, etc etc really has me hesitating at this juncture.
My two daughters each purchased the new iPad so at least I have an opportunity to get a feel of what that product has to offer. Unfortunately, detaching them from their new toy has been a struggle all its own. One of the main reasons for my looking at products other than Apple is that their products seems SO proprietary.
In any case, I think that I will keep visiting this forum for a while longer before I make a final decision as to which tablet to choose. My apologies for the long-winded post. Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are welcome here, whatever you decide, but if you go with another tablet or OS, please don't come and tease us about how much better/faster/cooler yours is than ours. that really gets on my nerves, lol!
But I'm sure you would never do that.
I would advocate that if you are interested in customising your tablet, the Infinity is a good one. First of all, it has a beautiful screen, will continue to receive firmware/OS updates and is finally starting to be well supported by some of the best developers in the Android ecosystem. Personally, I don't care about iOS on any level. It's far to closed a system for me, too limited. My Infinity , running CleanROM v1.3 with TWRP 2.3.0.0. recovery absolutely flies. It is super fluid and very powerful. I keep it connected to its keyboard dock and I take it off the charger at 5:30 a.m. and never have to charge again though 17 hour day of almost constant use. Much of that use is internet browsing and with the CleanROM tweaks, the stock browser performs incredibly well. I also have a flawless tablet and dock. Never any problems. I also take care of it, but nothing out of the ordinary...just keep it in its case...don't drop it or spill on it.
I've been using it instead of a laptop, and it just about replaces my desktop. Browsing is actually faster on the Infinity, and watching videos is a lot nicer. I haven't used the HDMI port, so I can't comment on it, but having the micro sd, the fullsize sd and full size USB ports means I never have to worry about not having enough storage...my 750GB WD Passport works perfectly in the USB port. That's a lot of movies.
Well, I know some people are worried about unlocking and voiding their asus warranty in order to flash custom software, but I found that a 2 year square deal warranty with accidental damage coverage works better for me anyway. It cost me $99, but I found out later that with a coupon I could have saved $30. Oh well.
Anyway, good luck with your decision!
wolfman87 said:
Hi Peter,
Deciding what Tablet you want for yourself is a very personal decision. If you really don't care about the environment (iOS vs Android) and are just a casual user - I do have a recommendation. At the risk of being flamed, I would say to get an iPad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for the quick response wolfman87. I wish that I could say that you've helped me move closer my ultimate decision. But of course you are absolutely right about that decision being a very personal one.
I suppose that there are so many factors that one may have to consider. It's so bizarre because I have been in IT for quite a while now and whenever a client asks for a quote on a new piece of hardware for example, the first question that I ask is: What exactly do you plan on doing with this new piece of hardware?
A liitle bit about myself:
Spend most of my time in a Windows client / server environment. (For better or worse my clients have dictated my skill-level)
Which is probably the reason that I am always looking to learn new things. Lately that has been:
Ubuntu desktop and server.
Virtual PBX (freePBX and Asterisk and PIAF)
Video Tutorials. Everything from Linux, jQuery, ASP .NET, Visual Studio, javascript.
Some of the things that I would like for a tablet to be able to do for me:
Receive and send email. Multiple Microsoft Exchange accounts required.
Connect remotely to client machines.
Browse the internet (many sites still require Flash)
Read all of the epub and pdf material that I now have sitting on my HP laptop
Would like to use a SIP client in order to dial thru my home based PBX with a secure VPN tunnel.
I enjoy recording music on my SSL Soundscape DAW.
Things that I found interesting about the Infinity:
Connectivity eg. HDMI - External storage - Dock
So far, I do not think that the iPad can offer any of these things. Unless I am wrong of course !!!
Once again, let me apologize for this long-winded response as well.
I thank you so much for your time and input. It is greatly appreciated.
Peter
okantomi said:
You are welcome here, whatever you decide, but if you go with another tablet or OS, please don't come and tease us about how much better/faster/cooler yours is than ours. that really gets on my nerves, lol!
But I'm sure you would never do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are absolutely right okantomi, I would never come back to do such a thing. By the way, thank you for the great response. I suppose that some of the negative stuff that I read in certain sections of this forum got me a little nervous. I should know better. We don't live in a perfect world, and no ONE item is going to please everyone. This phenomema is what brings about change and improvement.
I will give it another day or two, discuss the purchase with my better half, then see what we come up with.
Have a great weekend. Peter
Here's my two cents... Above, someone mentioned apps... Basically, an iPad is just that - an interface to run apps. On the other hand, Android does so much more. Besides running apps, the OS itself is actually useful and a great productivity tool. The widgets that run on your desktop are simply awesome. Just by looking at my home screen, I can see my upcoming appointments, the time, the date, the weather, my Gmail account and my work email account (exchange). I can do all of that simply by turning the device on! When you turn on an Ipad you see icons - that's about it.
Add to that the features of the Transformer series, such as a keyboard dock with an extra battery, a trackpad, memory card readers, HDMI-out and a USB port and I think you can see just how powerful a Transformer running Android can be. I actually started out with an iPad 1 (as it was basically the first tablet available) - it was a great device - until I stumbled upon Android and the Transformer line! You really can do so much more with a Transformer than you can with an iPad. Hell - even this post - just try typing this on an iPad - it would take forever with the on-screen keyboard!
Like had already been stated - it all depends on what you want the device to do. For me, the iPad is just way too limiting. It may have more apps (for now - although that's beginning to change), but that is literally all that you can do with it - runs apps. There are no widgets. There is no way to expand upon the hardware (I.E. extra ports). It's very "basic".
Anyway, good luck deciding - I have a feeling that we'll be seeing you around these parts soon enough though!
By the way, don't let the "complainers" in this forum scare you off - it's mainly just so same few posters complaining over and over again. Or, it's folks that don't even own the TF700! It is deceiving - there are *many* happy TF700 users out there!
Sorry for the long post - it's just so easy to get long winded when you have a real keyboard to type with!
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2
Osteele said:
Thank you so much for the quick response wolfman87. I wish that I could say that you've helped me move closer my ultimate decision. But of course you are absolutely right about that decision being a very personal one.
I suppose that there are so many factors that one may have to consider. It's so bizarre because I have been in IT for quite a while now and whenever a client asks for a quote on a new piece of hardware for example, the first question that I ask is: What exactly do you plan on doing with this new piece of hardware?
A liitle bit about myself:
Spend most of my time in a Windows client / server environment. (For better or worse my clients have dictated my skill-level)
Which is probably the reason that I am always looking to learn new things. Lately that has been:
Ubuntu desktop and server.
Virtual PBX (freePBX and Asterisk and PIAF)
Video Tutorials. Everything from Linux, jQuery, ASP .NET, Visual Studio, javascript.
Some of the things that I would like for a tablet to be able to do for me:
Receive and send email. Multiple Microsoft Exchange accounts required.
Connect remotely to client machines.
Browse the internet (many sites still require Flash)
Read all of the epub and pdf material that I now have sitting on my HP laptop
Would like to use a SIP client in order to dial thru my home based PBX with a secure VPN tunnel.
I enjoy recording music on my SSL Soundscape DAW.
Things that I found interesting about the Infinity:
Connectivity eg. HDMI - External storage - Dock
So far, I do not think that the iPad can offer any of these things. Unless I am wrong of course !!!
Once again, let me apologize for this long-winded response as well.
I thank you so much for your time and input. It is greatly appreciated.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This might be a jumble of thoughts - sorry in advance:
That's really good information actually. From the first post it sounded much more casual. Since the needs that you have are more technical I would lean towards the Android side of things (I think that there are more IT based applications for Android). You can definitely set up exchange accounts (not sure how many, but I know you can). You can also remote into other machines (VPN, I think RDP, etc.). Of course web browsing comes standard, even on the base model
If you are going to be doing a lot of emails the dock absolutely is worth it. for ~$100 (if you get the 201) you get basically a netbook KB and the extra battery life. I have a friend who uses a bluetooth KB for his iPad and it lasts a while itself, but doesn't increase the tablet uptime.
Also a few people are working on getting a distro of linux up on this. It's harder since the bootloader isn't the same as the older models, but I don't think that it's something you can do on the iPad.
If you aren't running any iDevices right now it makes sense to stick with Android/Windows as an ecosystem. My other advice is go to play.google.com and look around at the apps, specifically for what you want to do: (for example: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=SIP&c=apps). This will help you get a feel for what is out there and what you can do.
For hooking up to HDMI - I actually may have blown the port on mine recently - I still haven't tested it again. But I got the Square Trade warranty through amazon (2 years plus accidental damage) for about $75. They're a solid provider and while I hope I don't have to use them, they don't care if you voided your ASUS warranty with unlocking, etc.
If you you and your better half will be using the tablet, I would say to stick to the infinity since the screen is super crisp (I assume that for emails, PDF's, remote PBXing, you aren't worried too much about the resolution) and it gets bright in the outdoors (IPS+). I have an iPad 2 for work and it really is much better than even that screen. Not as good as the iPads, but the best on the market for android.
If you really don't care about the screen, there are other good models out there. The Infinity rocks in terms of horsepower and as I mentioned the screen. Those are probably the two BEST things about it. I figure (for me) it will last at least 2 maybe 3 years. (hopefully more)
Oh, as a note - try before you buy. The headset jack is a bit weird and if you do a lot of audio it takes a bit to get used to holding it closer to the top.
Oh, and no need to apologize for being long winded
To all you great folks who have taken the time to respond to my lenghty posts, my heartfelt thanks. I have to be very honest, and I hope that this doesn't come off sounding strange, I am not a huge APPS kinda guy. Maybe I am not up to speed with that whole apps thing, but I just can't see why some folks put so much emphasis on the procurement of apps. Let's face it, how many are you really going to need / use. Once you find the ones that do exactly what you need for them to do that should pretty much do it.
Well, that's just me talking of course. Perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that most of the time I am using my machines for work and not so much for play.
Have yourselves a safe and enjoyable weekend!
Thank you
Peter
Osteele said:
I wish that I could say that you've helped me move closer my ultimate decision.
[...]
It's so bizarre because I have been in IT for quite a while now and whenever a client asks for a quote on a new piece of hardware for example, the first question that I ask is: What exactly do you plan on doing with this new piece of hardware?
[...]
Ubuntu desktop and server.
Virtual PBX (freePBX and Asterisk and PIAF)
Video Tutorials. Everything from Linux, jQuery, ASP .NET, Visual Studio, javascript.
Some of the things that I would like for a tablet to be able to do for me:
Receive and send email. Multiple Microsoft Exchange accounts required.
Connect remotely to client machines.
Browse the internet (many sites still require Flash)
Read all of the epub and pdf material that I now have sitting on my HP laptop
Would like to use a SIP client in order to dial thru my home based PBX with a secure VPN tunnel.
I enjoy recording music on my SSL Soundscape DAW.
Things that I found interesting about the Infinity:
Connectivity eg. HDMI - External storage - Dock
So far, I do not think that the iPad can offer any of these things. Unless I am wrong of course !!!
Once again, let me apologize for this long-winded response as well.
I thank you so much for your time and input. It is greatly appreciated.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If web browsing is a must -- and for most of us, it is -- then pretty much any Android machine wins over any iDevice because of Flash support (even with the support detracted on JB devices, you can still sideload the apk and it will still work).
Shell connection has several (free) apps available. I do that from home, mostly, so I do not have really extensive experience with them.
EPub and PDF -- Mantano all the way (I use it for both technical reading (medical and biochemical literature, mostly) and leisure reading (although that is non-fiction as well, mainly (astro)physics, quantum dynamics, archeology -- the high resolution screen REALLY helps in that corner, for it renders formulae, graphs, tables, and such just beautifully!).
To me, given both private and work use, TF700 hands-down, but as has been said oftentimes on this thread already, it's your choice. And indeed you are welcome in here anyway.
Osteele said:
[...]I am not a huge APPS kinda guy. Maybe I am not up to speed with that whole apps thing, but I just can't see why some folks put so much emphasis on the procurement of apps. Let's face it, how many are you really going to need / use. Once you find the ones that do exactly what you need for them to do that should pretty much do it.
Well, that's just me talking of course. Perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that most of the time I am using my machines for work and not so much for play.
Have yourselves a safe and enjoyable weekend!
Thank you
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does make a major difference whether you use the 700 for work alone or also for leisure activity. I have two kids, aged 4 and 2, and they love tablet -- and they're ever handier than me. :S The app thingy is an ongoing search for the best-performing launcher, the best-performing office application, etc. -- and a lot of it is hoarding (I have enough games purchased-but-not-played-yet to last me for the next decade-and-a-half, hahaha!).
(Oh, and sometimes, an app is really good for all things it does, but it doesn't incorporate a feature you need. You then find another app that does, but that one either has a clunky interface (preventing everyday use) or misses some feature the other app did provide... and so on, and so on. )
Jtrosky already tackled this, but I wanted to emphasize it a bit: currently, only a small minority has devices that display major faults. Don't let the few posts about them detract you from trusting the TF700.
I was one of the many that noticed low I/O performance, which is the one issue that is faithfully reproducible, I guess -- and although not eliminated entirely, it has been greatly improved upon by recent updates. I was one of the instigators of the "I/O pressure" -- I unashamedly admit -- and I think we did the right thing in being so vocal. I love my 700, though, and I am easily standing up against the many friends carrying iDevices around (with regards to both screen quality, battery life, physical keyboard, and connection options (main USB, (micro)SD cards)...
Have a good and merry weekend yourself as well!
MartyHulskemper said:
If web browsing is a must -- and for most of us, it is -- then pretty much any Android machine wins over any iDevice because of Flash support (even with the support detracted on JB devices, you can still sideload the apk and it will still work).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good morning Marty, and thank you for your valuable input. Undoubtedly, you seem to be getting the most out of your trusty tablet. I am happy to hear that.
I am going to take in all I can about tablets in general this weekend. I know that can probably set me a back a while. I am currently delving into a little .NET programming. So, there is always WIndows 8 tablets.
Came across this article last nite:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2010050/leaked-windows-8-tablet-pricing-suggests-asus-is-targeting-big-spenders.html
Will most likely add to my confusion though. No one is holding a gun to my head, right?
Have a wonderful day wherever you may be!
Peter
Osteele said:
Good morning Marty, and thank you for your valuable input. Undoubtedly, you seem to be getting the most out of your trusty tablet. I am happy to hear that.
I am going to take in all I can about tablets in general this weekend. I know that can probably set me a back a while. I am currently delving into a little .NET programming. So, there is always WIndows 8 tablets.
Came across this article last nite:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2010050/leaked-windows-8-tablet-pricing-suggests-asus-is-targeting-big-spenders.html
Will most likely add to my confusion though. No one is holding a gun to my head, right?
Have a wonderful day wherever you may be!
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, no, you're only in as much hurry as you put yourself in -- that Intel-based ASUS tablet is priced outrageously high -- 1399 dollars for a tablet? Meh. The people that would pay that )to include the dock accessory) would rather pay 1100 dollars for a really good laptop instead. I'd that swell, and I'd gain Windows gaming in the process (Borderlands 2 on the train commute ftw, hahaha! ) and a crapload of ecosystem apps that have been refined over many years instead of the 2 years we have had Android tablet apps and 0, nada, zilch for Windows 8 tablet apps.
If they price it lower, though, it might even be very tempting (especially when they do not break compatibility with Windows 7 applications -- I haven't been paying much attention to Windows 8. I guess I have some catching up to do...
And as far as your catching up goes: yes, I'd expect you to be busy reading for a week or two, at least. As we say in Holland: it will, at the very least, keep you off the streets.
MartyHulskemper said:
Oh, no, you're only in as much hurry as you put yourself in -- that Intel-based ASUS tablet is priced outrageously high -- 1399 dollars for a tablet? Meh.
If they price it lower, though, it might even be very tempting (especially when they do not break compatibility with Windows 7 applications -- I haven't been paying much attention to Windows 8. I guess I have some catching up to do...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello again Marty. I was under the impression that the pricing was somewhere in the vicinity of:
Pricing for Asus' Vivo Tab RT will start at $599
As was mentioned here as well:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/12/3495334/asus-vivo-tab-rt-pre-sales-begin-first-windows-rt-tablet-starts-at
IT's going to take more than a tablet to keep me off the streets. :laugh: :laugh:
Have a wonderful day. Peter
Osteele said:
Hello again Marty. I was under the impression that the pricing was somewhere in the vicinity of:
Pricing for Asus' Vivo Tab RT will start at $599
As was mentioned here as well:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/12/3495334/asus-vivo-tab-rt-pre-sales-begin-first-windows-rt-tablet-starts-at
IT's going to take more than a tablet to keep me off the streets. :laugh: :laugh:
Have a wonderful day. Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Peter!
Yes, it did say that in the article, but the RT versions of Windows 8 are the versions that carry ONLY the Metro interface, and are able to run ONLY apps that have been specifically programmed to run on that particular version (although I might have understood all that totally wrong, in which case somebody will undoubtedly be so friendly as to point me to my errors. The more usable versions will cost you significantly more, and the dock will set you back even more...
MartyHulskemper said:
Hi Peter!
Yes, it did say that in the article, but the RT versions of Windows 8 are the versions that carry ONLY the Metro interface, and are able to run ONLY apps that have been specifically programmed to run on that particular version (although I might have understood all that totally wrong, in which case somebody will undoubtedly be so friendly as to point me to my errors. The more usable versions will cost you significantly more, and the dock will set you back even more...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha !!! Gotcha. Thanks to you, I will be going to bed a little smarter this evening. Thank you. Peter
Update
Well folks, I just wanted to stop by to let you know that I took the plung today at approx 18:00. After spending a considerable amount of time scouring the internet and reading reviews ad nauseam, I finally decided upon the Infinity. Should arrive in a few days and I must say that I am excited. Nice to feel like a kid again.
There is a good possibility that I may have a few questions once I have spent a little time with the unit. Hope you all don't mind if I post those questions here on this forum.
Thank you all again for being so helpful. I hope that I have made the right decision.
Peter
Osteele said:
Well folks, I just wanted to stop by to let you know that I took the plung today at approx 18:00. After spending a considerable amount of time scouring the internet and reading reviews ad nauseam, I finally decided upon the Infinity. Should arrive in a few days and I must say that I am excited. Nice to feel like a kid again.
There is a good possibility that I may have a few questions once I have spent a little time with the unit. Hope you all don't mind if I post those questions here on this forum.
Thank you all again for being so helpful. I hope that I have made the right decision.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bring it on bro.....We are waiting!!!
buhohitr said:
Bring it on bro.....We are waiting!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Sir. I really appreciate that.
Congrats! Welcome to the club
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Welcome to the Infinity family.
As a .NET Developer myself, I find this device comes in handy sometimes with the supernote it saves alot of papers and keep them all in one place. I use Supernote for writing pseudo code, brainstorming, UML diagram etc. Maybe you will find this method useful or maybe not. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the infinity!
Cheers
Osteele said:
Well folks, I just wanted to stop by to let you know that I took the plung today at approx 18:00. After spending a considerable amount of time scouring the internet and reading reviews ad nauseam, I finally decided upon the Infinity. Should arrive in a few days and I must say that I am excited. Nice to feel like a kid again.
There is a good possibility that I may have a few questions once I have spent a little time with the unit. Hope you all don't mind if I post those questions here on this forum.
Thank you all again for being so helpful. I hope that I have made the right decision.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope so, too, Peter -- you'll find out soon enough, I guess. ; ) It does come pretty sudden, so after your initial resolve to wait it out and inform and inform and inform. I know the feeling of waiting, however, mostly gets the best of me -- I guess us gadgeteers are not the most resilient to marketing and spec sheets. Hahaha!
Welcome to the club, and don't fret about posting your questions. It's not your type of user we get fed up with, and to be honest, I think you'll be fine with the guides that have sprung up -- at least as far as unlocking woes, Nvflash, custom recoveries and custom ROMs, etc. go. It's going to take a fair bit of Play Store scavenging to find apps that suit your needs and style optimally, but we'll get there. Relish the kid feeling, and don't lose the fun in finding your way.
By the way: I assume you ordered it with the dock?