Considering A Xoom -- Advice Wanted! - Xoom Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey All--I'm considering getting a Xoom off craigslist at a decent price, but I was hoping for some advice first:
What I really care about is having a device that runs well, that the screen is pretty good on, and that has great developer support.
I will most likely run AOKP on whatever I get (it's what I run on my galaxy nexus).
Is this the tablet for me? What are the benefits, and perhaps more importantly, what are the drawbacks that you see to the xoom?
Thanks!

I really hate the screen on this Xoom, my Samsung fascinates screen at half dim is easier to see out side than my Xoom at 100.
I got mine cheap online also and wish I would have just saved a bit more and got a galaxy tab. Prob will be upgrading to galaxy tab 2.
Before I go, I would like to add that this tablet is a pain to hold, I would prefer a screen that is a bit closer to square such as gal tab or ipad, this Xoom is like widescreen, it's also kinda heavy, I do like a bit of weight but without a case on it, the shell on this thing is very slippery.
Id go hold some different devices to make up your mind on if it's worth saving 100-200 bucks on something you intend to enjoy and use often for some time to come.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

My only real complaint is battery life. I get about 8 -10 hours out of it continous use. Other complaint would be the backlight. If you plan on keeping it stock, there are better options. If you plan on rooting and roming it, there is allot of developmental support that will completely transform it. Add in hdmi port and expandable storage via external sd card slot(xoom can accept the sandisk 64gb micro.)
It really matters, what you will be doing with it, and where will you will be using it.. If out doors during day hours allot, check out other options before getting the xoom. Its glare can be bad and the backlight will barely make up for it... out in the sun, just about forget about it. If it will be indoors allot overcast days or in the shade, and/or very media oriented, the xoom is excellent. Someone else will have to comment on gaming.
If you like to use allot of apps, or a windows like experience of multiple apps or screens at once, there is the cornerstone rom(there is a youtube video.)
I personally am very happy with my xoom, I like music and love movies, price aside(xoom verizon lte, no contract) Resolution is good, tegra2 does everything I ask, on the eos nightly rom there are great customizing options. I have no reason at all to look for some thing else.... if i get sick with what I got, I just switch a rom, the only thing that stays the same is the case.
As for weight, yeah its a little heavier and thicker than most, do a couple pushups once in a while, you'll be fine

Related

[Q] Droid charge, iphone 4 or wait?

I just became elegible to upgrade my phone, I keep hearing things that vz is gonna switch to tiered pricing and would prefer to get locked in before they change things. Really split between those 3 choices, get a charge with it's amazing amoled screen thats larger and customization of android, or go with iphone 4 with it's higher pixel density, built quality and pretty good camera detail, I can always wait for the apple event on the june 6th-10th and risk being closer to tiered pricing.
I looked at dx 2 but I just couldn't get into the whole pentile screen, it just wasn't right for my taste even with a higher resolution.
Get the charge. You can always sell it on craigslist for an iphone 4. Besides iphone sucks lol
Sent From My VooDood Charge
I've used every single iPhone every year since Apple initially release it. It wasn't until last summer (2010) that I got on Android. At first I didn't like it; i thought it was pretty complicated, confusing, and too frustrating to use. I didn't like Android 1.8 that was pushed onto the HTC Hero as well. So I went back to iPhone. A week later, I got the HTC Evo 4G. I started to like Android a bit more, but still used iPhone 4 as my "daily beater," if you know what i mean.
Long story short, I LOVE android now. I never want to use another POS iOS software device again. Android is the way to go, buddy.
Z51 said:
Get the charge. You can always sell it on craigslist for an iphone 4. Besides iphone sucks lol
Sent From My VooDood Charge
Click to expand...
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Question: If you buy the Charge on contract, and let's say in 6 months you want something else, you can't sell it because it's ESN will still be tied to your account till the contract is up, correct?
ChaOConnor said:
Question: If you buy the Charge on contract, and let's say in 6 months you want something else, you can't sell it because it's ESN will still be tied to your account till the contract is up, correct?
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It's tied to your account until you want to change it, but it requires little to no effort. You can either change either online through the verizonwireless.com portal or by calling customer service.
Once you have changed the ESN/IMEI tied to your account to your new phone, you can do whatever you want with the old phone as it is no longer tied to your account.
There is absolutely no comparison between these two phones. The charge does everything better except iTunes and battery life. Faster phone and way faster network = no comparison.
I What?
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
Syn Ack said:
There is absolutely no comparison between these two phones. The charge does everything better except iTunes and battery life. Faster phone and way faster network = no comparison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, out of the box, the Charge lags quite a bit. In fact, it's almost to the point where it is unbearable. But the Debloated ED2 solved that problem. There is ZERO lag now.
Android is a hobby, not just a phone, and once you start playing with it, you'll be hooked. iPhone is pretty much a phone for simpletons who just want a smartphone.
The Charge is similar to the iPhone in some minute ways, probably the closest thing to an iPhone on the Android OS. Im trying to sell my iPhone for Verizon now because I just like Android better.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
im considering going back to my iphone 4, switching back n forth between the charge and thunderbolt right now .... as someone said, there can be quite a bit of lag with the charge, try adding a widget to your homescreen, takes a really long time to load the menu of choices ... i actually like using the tb more than the charge but can't read the screen very well in sunlight, so i use the charge more...
as for the iphone 4, most of the apps are done better than the android version, no idea why but that's the way it looks to me.... a minus for the iphone 4 is lack of voice integration, sometimes i'm too lazy to type a txt msg, so i just speak it when i'm using an android phone... it can be done on iphone 4 but you have to use 2 programs, just a pain in the ass ...
also, i don't have great eyesight anymore so it's hard to read the fonts on the iphone 4 at times, on my charge i've installed bigger system fonts so i can read pretty much everything without wearing glasses
oh yeah, games run better on iphone 4 than the charge... could be because of the smaller screen on the iphone, angry birds seasons can really lag on my charge..
another plus for android is the 'integration' of things like pics... there is an option to share with many different social networks, email, txt, etc... can be done on the iphone but usually have to use a different program....
all in all, it's a tough choice.... the iphone is really easy to use, has some great apps, and is stable for the most part..
the charge has a really nice screen, not the resolution of the iphone, but still looks great ...
too many choices, lol, hope this helps some.
Yea, what everyone else said in comparison between iPhone and Android OS/Charge is spot on.
If you're not ready to settle for a Charge and a bit unwilling to go back to iPhone/iOS, then you can definitely wait for the SGS2. I picked one up from the grey market (expansys) and I am loving it. Definitely one of the best phones i've ever used.
I would love to get a galaxy 2 but I don't think its even mentioned to coming to vz, I would prefer to stay with vz, been with them for years and am content with the service.
It's like having to choose from vanilla and chocolate but preferring strawberry.
Only concern with going with iphone is I might get renewed in a 3g data and not be allowed to switch to a 4g device without going for the new tiered pricing if thats what they have if I want to sell and change the phone. There's also low quality on youtube video unless I go wifi and it would be more complicated getting my own ringtones in it. Then again the iphone 4 is well built, reliable and stupid proof. Might be harder to unbrick an iphone 4.
You'll only receive biased answers asking this sort of question here - especially given your posting in the Charge sub-forum.
Having owned both the iPhone4 and Charge, I can say they are both great devices. The answer really depends on what you want to get out of your phone. The iPhone has far superior battery life, itunes syncing keepings things simple, the browser is far superior to any Android browser, and overall - the phone just works.
With that said, Android/Charge is the better option in my opinion. I love LTE, much prefer the 4.3" SAMOLED screen, and love that I can easily swap things like keyboards, themes, fonts, etc. I also like how google does not try to tell you what you want, much like Apple does.
If you want to lock in unlimited data, why would you lock in unlimited 3G data? The only phones on your list right now to lock in unlimited data should be Thunderbolt, Revolution, and Charge, and I'd say that the Charge is by far the best of the 3.
ellover009 said:
I would love to get a galaxy 2 but I don't think its even mentioned to coming to vz, I would prefer to stay with vz, been with them for years and am content with the service.
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It seems like it's coming to Verizon under the moniker Function.
PeterDLai said:
It seems like it's coming to Verizon under the moniker Function.
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Click to collapse
The question is when will it come out? I feel like it's coming out later rather than sooner.
Iphone has great build quality.... but that's it
Apple blows. Get the charge
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
Anyone played with some nes, snes, and psx emulators on the charge? Can it keep up? Is it true you can use Bluetooth gamepads with android phones and any recommendation on a pad? I played with the xperia phone but was not impressed with the screen.
I got my charge this Sunday. I totally love this thing so far, it's not perfect but I am pretty happy with it. I am coming from a touch pro 2 phone. Only thing I miss from the tp2 is that speaker phone was quite a bit louder, and even output volume through usb jack to cassette deck adapter is not as loud as the tp2.
There's some trade off and most are positive. it's a little wider but it's thinner and a lot lighter, I definitely do not miss the extra weight associated with the tp2 and it's keyboard. Screen is responsive, I have not encountered any slowdown with the exception of flash heavy sites. But then again I am not running too much unnecessary junk on the phone.
Battery is usually 2/3 by the time I get back home or 6/7th if I don't use it much. I ended up getting the dock and it's nice, you can charge the phone and at same time an additional battery in a special compartment, don't even need to charge phone. Low battery, please, I just pull one outta the charger pop it in and put the depleted cell in there.
I wish I could force the camera to orientate itself to portrait instead of assuming your taking landscape pictures.
Programs I loaded so far are Google maps., Beautiful widgets, angry bird rio, psx4droid (got lunar 2, ff7 and crash bandicoot warped working), unEcm and linda manager (lets me browse files).
I still got some work to do, I have avoided getting the ed2 update because it intrudes with rooting. I've been content with the phone so far so I don't know if I will bother rooting and doing some mumbo jumbo with some voodoo kernel thing. ( I'm still new to the lingo, supposedly it helps make the phone faster).
Upgrades I am thinking of doing is maybe flipping my memory card and putting the difference towards a class 10 card, I ordered some phantomskin screen protector, meanwhile I got the anti glare one from vz the day I got it but I think it just makes it glitter a bit.
Rooting and the kernel thing are still under question.
I love the contrast.

i was almost decided to buy sgs2 but i found this :(

Hi everyone? How is it goiing? Its me again, sorry for bothering.. i made a thread a week ago to receive an opinion between atrix 2 and sgs2, everyone told me that sgs2 was the best choice, the day before to buy it i found the next issues that are common in sgs2:
-Very bad Battery Life
-Overheating problem
-Yellow thint in the left superior corner in low brightness
-Green tint when white color is present and you watch it from up, left, down and right sides but its perfect looking at it straight over the display
-pink spot in the centre of the camera in white scenes and low light conditions
-blue tint in camera when night mode is on
-laggy 1080p recording in low lights conditions
-buggy stock firmware that makes the device reboot itsefl and crash.
So.. what now? I dont have much time to change it millions of times, its frustrating, i thought i found what i needed.. so now i dont know what to do.. probably i should wait with my defy until a newer device comes out, what you think?
Thanks for your time, best regards from Argentina.
Well if you don't want to risk it then don't.
However I will say the sgs 2 and is the best android phone you could get and most if not all of those issues are minor, you will not face or may be fixed. Cuz if they were major, I'd have returned this phone already or intentionally break it.
$1 gets you a reply
Yeah i know .. i know their are minor issues, i just hate the technical services centres, they are too far and let you waiting a couple weeks.. Otherwise atrix is not officialy in my country, a seller who often travells to the usa brought many unbranded and sim free atrix origonally from at&t and it is crazy overpriced (800 dollards) and the galaxy s2 is better, cheaper because of the carrier block and 2 year official warranty. Are you experiencing some of the issues i mentioned before?
I've been trying to decide if i should get the SGS2 recently as well, except my problem is deciding if i should wait for SGS3 or Nexus, but from extensive research on SGS2 i can tell you a couple things..
SGS2 is gonna have far better developer support
Some of the issues you're reading about may be only a few people, I've heard good results with battery life for SGS2, but remember any phone with a decent sized screen is going to suffer from poor battery life
Atrix hardware just isn't comparable and is more expensive, unless you're really attached to getting the lapdock
if there's a software issue with the SGS2 it's pretty much certain that its known and there at the very least 1 fix for it.
personally I had this debate when i got my captivate, and it took me one look at motoblur (the interface that motorola puts over stock android) for me to make my decision, i can honestly say i hate motoblur.
there are always going to be little problems with both phones, the new atrix just came out so people haven't really had time to discover ever little flaw but that doesn't mean they're not there.
SGS2 has better hardware, and personally i hate motoblur so SGS2 wins on the software side too. And SGS2 developers are incredible here on XDA so you will have access to all the tech support you could ever dream of. To me its a no brainer (unless your attached to getting the dock for the atrix).
I suggest you go to a store, play with both phones as they have quite a quite different feel to them, and just pick the one you like more, they will both work just fine I'm sure. From experience I can tell you that you'll just drive yourself crazy researching. Good luck
Hi there! SGS2 user here. Here's my mixed bag of complaints and thumbs up's
1. Amazing codec support. It can play almost all files that I throw at it, may it be anime in MKV format, youtube HD, HD Video projects rendered from Sony Vegas Pro, etc! It's good for on the go anime and when I need to show my video projects to others. Best of all, it has USB Mass Storage: no pesky itunes or mandatory video reformatting. Just plug and mount, copy and paste, simple.
2. Screen is a mixed bag as well. On the positive side, it's big, bright, and just looks stunning. Also, when the pixel is black, it really is black in the sense that when i am displaying white text on black background, no matter how much the brightness is set to, only the white text brightens and the black backgrounds stay the same. This is the nature of Super Amoled. But the thing with Super Amoled is, it's power-hungry. Yes, when you use black backgrounds, you save more battery because the black pixels are off. Well not really off, but almost off. The problem is that most websites and most movies are not black all the time. On the average, I can get 3 hours max of compounded screen on time per charge. Also, since Amoled is oled or organic lead, the pixels lose brightness pretty fast. Mine's about 3 months old and i can already notice some pixels that are not as bright as the others when displaying a solid color. Take note though that this is only visible IN EXTREMELY LOW BRIGHTNESS. I use an app called screen filter to lower the brightness way beyond the screen can take. Also, black crush (google it, to lazy to explain) happens when in extremely low brightness levels. Last thing, MHL is the technology the SGS2 uses for TV-out. It's actually TV-out and power in, meaning you need to plug in your charger for it to pump out video. Theoretically, this is done so that when you watch video, you can charge your phone. The thing is, the screen is so power hungry that your battery even depletes even when you are plugged in.
NOTE: I easily solved this batter problem by purchasing
1. An extra battery
2. A samsung external charger/phone stand
http://www.ebay.ph/itm/NEW-SAMSUNG-...AU_MobilePhoneAccessories&hash=item19c9ec5e32
3. Yes, it gets hot especially when playing intensive games like Dungeon defenders or when watching a movie through tv-out. But hey, it's really thin, so I'm not surprised the heat can reach my hands.
4. 99.9% lag free. Really, I've never owned a phone as lag free as this, even on stock. This has got to be the speediest phone i've owned.
5. About the tints: well, I don't really experience them since i've installed a custom rom. Or maybe I don't have a trained enough eye. Overall, I like the screen.
6. I don't record 1080p video mainly because the image gets cropped. It's a hardware limitation, AFAIK. Nonetheless, I'm satisfied with 720p. Actually, since I own a DSLR, all phone videos and images look crap to me, but hey, the SGS2 images and video still look nice. AND THE FLASH IS QUITE POWERFULL TOO, very bright for night time video.
For any more questions, feel free to ask.
Thats one of the reason by wich i love xda, veru fast and usefull replies thanks you guys for wasting time to help! And it really drove me crazy, searching, looking for fixes. Reviews, agh, damn, i spent the entire week deciding, even on work lol i'm a sick of mobile technology, smarthphones are my passion and i spent much time reading threads like this. So .. it heats because of hungry display and powerful processor, battery drains because of display, and of course it would be fine in 720p.. i think i'll take the risk, i cant die without trying SGS2! I'll use the entire functions before the 10 days that my carrier gives to exchange it for a new one in case of factory defects, i hope there is no issuees, wish me look!! Thanks you all! I'll notice you when i get home with it.. does the camera suffer the pink issue? Whatever, here i go sgs2
Since day 1 I specifically tested for the pink issue but couldn't produce it. But other users have it too but are saying its been fixed through the new camera firmware, so all in all you won't get it or it will be fixed.
$1 gets you a reply
previously I apologize if I am wrong opinion
I also compare between atrix, sgs2 and Optimus 2x and finally I decided to buy the Optimus 2x
please note that no single man-made is perfect, there must have been the weakness behind it
so I can only give encouragement to you in order not to regret what you buy
sgs2 also have more side than the other handhelds
you can optimize your handheld to fit your needs
you try to thread sgs2 visit there you will find all the advantages of which have been optimized sgs2
i`m sorry, i can`t speak english well
Well, Galaxy R is cheaper and has a better GPU. And its pretty decent handset.
Sent from my Galaxy Ace running J.A.F CM 7.2 Odexed using XDA App
i have an atrix 2, and while i like the design, look and feel of the phone, and most importantly to me, the way it interacts with the car dock, i will say it has it's share of issues.
i cannot get the emails to stop syncing, even with the accounts set to fetch manually
settings menus are just confusing, you can change the same setting in 2-3 different places
even though the phone state 8gb internal memory, this is not true. it is not accessible to the user, you basically get 5gb of app storage. you are then given a 2gb sdcard to fit your pics, music, videos, lol
people are having a lot of sdcard read/write problems
apps2sd renders the sdcard useless
the camera absolutely sucks. takes forever to focus on anything, then snaps, wait... wait... wait... oh, it's blurry
even though it's not a blur phone, it has an ass-ton of blur apps running. freezing some works, but, i found that the blur and social network integration is so intertwined with system apps that you will get a lot of force closes on system apps when you freeze a lot of the services
there is a device health monitor service that runs, and runs gps 100% of the time, killing the battery. you can freeze this, but if you were like me and purchase the phone in hopes of getting away from having to hack and mod a phone to get it to run the way it was supposed to, your screwed.
the gallery app sucks
the music app sucks
you can hear yourself in call on the ear piece, which is oddly annoying
some of the atrix 2 devices have the infamous nexus s bug where the screen goes wonky sometimes while plugged in
bootloader is on lock down
there's no development happening at all
i'm actually at the point of exchanging it, i have 8 days left on my 30 day return period and i'm looking at getting the samsung focus s since there's nothing else worth having at that price point.
but don't get me wrong, not all atrix 2's are having these issues, and it is a good looking device and runs rather smoothly. the accessories, while expensive, are really cool too.
Well first of all i should assume the fact that nothing is perfect, i think i'm becoming a bit perfeccionist, but hey, when we spent some money in buying something we have a too big spectation! And when we find this little issues we say, damn, i wasn't expecting that! It's not working like it should.. Thanks svtfmook for the Atrix opinion, is the first i read and i think that Motorola focuses in Elegancy of the desing and high quality hardware handsets.. Otherwise Samsung has their own processor, the exynos chipset, and focus on the display, the functionality.. whatever.. Comparing the opinions, i think i should get the Galaxy S2 and stop complaining about those little issues.. I think its fine, i can live with it.. i admit i love the way that galaxy s2 do the things faster, i saw many reviews and i said, wow! What a Phone, just like neilbantoc says, The sharp and bright display and the speedy processor are battery hungry .. I think it won't worth waiting either, o don't think that the next phones will be far different to SGS2.. on 10th december i'll go for it, i'll see it how it works and everything and i think i'll fall un love.. Thanks you all, and its a honor for me to be a member and talk with you guys in XDA, its a great forum and i apreciate your patience to explain, there's no forum like this in Argentina, i'll promise next time i will speak english a bit better, sorry haha, take care

is this a pretty solid tablet?

my rezound is my primary device, but tablet-wise i currently have an ipad 2. this is my 1st tablet and only got it as i was bored with my alienware m11x & someone offered the ipad as a trade.
anyway, the only thing im really enjoying with the ipad are the 'cave' shooting games. i hate the whole itunes/istore setup & the fact that you cant just download media directly to the device from a browser, etc.
the only other tablets ive tinkered with were the xoom & galaxy tab. both seemed sluggish as hell and im assuming because of the gui.
i now have someone else offering a transformer + $$$ for my ipad2 and thinking of doing it. how is the battery life on the transformer? sometimes i have insomnia and may end up playing games on the ipad throughout the night & it'll still have plenty of battery in the morning.
The Transformer snaps through the user interface with grace and style. You probably won't find a sluggish moment with this tablet.
I can usually get 8-10 hours of battery life on the tablet, and with the dock charging the tablet (if you decide to buy the dock) you can get around 16 hours.
Beamed from my TF101 using Tapatalk HD
Each device has it's advantages and are both nice. I went with the transformer after coming very close to getting an iPad. They both have good battery life and are both pretty fast and smooth. The keyboard dock is what made up my mind for me. I had a laptop and a netbook and figured I could ditch the netbook going with the tf. Having the dock is really great even if you just use it for the extra battery life. I had the tf for about 5 months before getting the dock, waited for it to get down to $99 and it's more than that now.
Depending on what you really do with a tablet, the tf has great built in features like the HDMI out and USB ports (on the dock or an accessory) which are things you can do with an iPad but you have to buy accessories that are not cheap. I use HDMI out quite a bit, but if you don't plan on stuff like that then either one is great. Then it comes down to software. I had an iPod touch and really liked it, but once I got an Android phone, the touch got sold and I really didn't like iTunes all that much either.
If you really like your Rezound (great phone) you will really like the transformer also. Cheers.
There is no sluggishness with the Transformer, it's very nippy.
Android 4.0 is due any day now, which will make things even slicker.
Battery life will be about 3x what you get with the iPad, if you use the dock (and about 1.5x without the dock).
Is the owner offering it with a dock? If so, snap his arm off... that's a great deal. The iPad2 is about to go obsolete overnight with the launch of the iPad2s.
I'm also a Rezound owner and you'll love this tablet. It's as smooth as the Rezound, it's got amazing battery life, and the only thing I'm not used to, is the screen pixel density. I'm not used to actually seeing pixels because of the Rezound, lol, but that's not even a reason not to own it. It's just amazing how there's 720x1280 on this 4.3in screen, and barely 1280x800 on the 10.1in TF101. Anyways, a widespread defect is the light bleed, since it's an ips panel screen. Don't worry though, it's rare that anybody doesn't have that on their screen, and it won't be noticeable unless looking for it
Overall, it probably wouldn't be wise to not take that offer, you'll be amazed by this thing
Sent from my ADR6425LVW
Don't expect iPad 2 smoothness. Sometimes the TF is sluggish...sort of like a semi truck...it can get sluggish if the stars are not aligned. But once it's up to speed...unless you are looking to be picky...it gets the job done.
Just check for light bleed, creaking on the top left of the bezel, volume imbalance. I had to take mine back because of that. If it doesn't have those issues or they won't bother you then it should be fine.
wow you traded an m11x for it, that was a good deal for someone else...
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

To Buy or Not to Buy

Hey Guys,
I'm seriously getting into dev work now for a living and therefore I need a tablet - my next app is going to be a tablet only news reader app (think Flipboard, Feedly etc combined and optimized for a tablet).
Was going to go for the Nexus 7 but I find it just too damn small and ugly. Nexus 10 is sold out and expensive and I can get a Note 10 brand new for about £250. Only things I'm worried about is the screen resolution and performance. Read a couple of reports about lag so just wanted people's opinions. Considering the price I can get it for as well would it be a good choice?
And if anyone can point me in the direction of some news apps they use on their Note would be appreciated
I do not feel any problem with resolution, It's enough even for watching movies. Reading is more than a good on this devices. Laging in multiscreen is solved upgrading from ICS to JB so it's not necessary to worry about it. You should not see any lags during reading of course.
I'm satisfied with this devices, but there is a lot of another cheaper solution of course. I can recommend SGN10.1 without doubts.
Well forget the resolution for a minute and go watch HD movie on the note and then tell me how the screen is
Honestly, screen resolution is fine unless you've read stuff / browsed on a nexus 10 or iPad 3/4. As for lag, I have come to the conclusion that certain builds released by samsung have lag while others don't. I personally don't and I'm on Build IMM76D.N8010XWALG4 which is android 4.0.4 (there are other 4.0.4 builds floating around as well).
Either that or you just can't satisfy some people...
Honestly with 2gb of ram I have never experienced lag except when I have a few things open, am downloading and installing apps and want to watch a movie.... What do you expect, even the PC slows down when you have a large amount of processing happening and ram being exhausted...
The resolution should not bother you unless you are one of the people who hovers about 5 inches from the display..
Other than that, the real concern for possible buyers would be the plastic casing. Are you fine with that, or do you really need that aluminium "premium" feel? Having played with various tablets (including the Infinity), I can say I honestly don't care because I'd put it in a case anyway, but if it bothers you, you probably won't be happy with this tablet.
Finally, while this tablet is really good, I think in terms of price and specs, you'd be better off with a Nexus 10 if you don't care about the stylus. You're guaranteed updates more quickly and for longer than if you got this tablet. Really, the biggest strength of this tablet is the stylus and its stylus-based application so if that's not even on your list.. I don't think you really want to get this.. (Although how much cheaper is the Nexus 10 for you? JW)
About the plastic case - From reading posts, most people seem to put their note into a case anyway... Whether its a folder style case, jell case, leather or silicone you'll find that the note is lighter than if you had the metal case....
As for the HD screen, I find the note screen is excellant to watch media on, as was stated previuosly, unless you sit with your face pressed up against the screen you won't really notice the difference. I like that Samsung really got the best out of what they gave and it isn't too bad..
crazyfool_1 said:
Hey Guys,
I'm seriously getting into dev work now for a living and therefore I need a tablet - my next app is going to be a tablet only news reader app (think Flipboard, Feedly etc combined and optimized for a tablet).
Was going to go for the Nexus 7 but I find it just too damn small and ugly. Nexus 10 is sold out and expensive and I can get a Note 10 brand new for about £250. Only things I'm worried about is the screen resolution and performance. Read a couple of reports about lag so just wanted people's opinions. Considering the price I can get it for as well would it be a good choice?
And if anyone can point me in the direction of some news apps they use on their Note would be appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Off topic. From which uk shop.
sent from my muffin

Just got a tab and its very slow and sluggish.

some videos of its sloweness.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAy9pN-PyXk
http://youtu.be/443g1m2D9Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Qofo_vybg
so slow its painful
Would a custom rom make this any better?
Had a look at those vids, looks to be about average for the stock ROM and is similar to the performance I was getting on stock.
Any of the custom ROMs will help with the sluggishness.
Gavin01 said:
some videos of its sloweness.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAy9pN-PyXk
http://youtu.be/443g1m2D9Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Qofo_vybg
so slow its painful
Would a custom rom make this any better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uncheck power saving mode, disable all animations at development tools menu
Sent from my SM-T211 using xda app-developers app
Flashed a custom rom and things are much better. 100%not worth its 270 price tag
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Samsung puts only 1gb ram and fills it with all kinds of it's own services that use all the ram and bug down the system:
Solution:
-Replace Touchwiz with Go Launcher HD.
-Root device and freeze all Samsung stuff that boot up with the system which you don't need such Samsung hubs(games, news etc), Yahoo services etc. Titanium backup can be of help to freeze.
-uncheck cpu in power savings option.
-reduce or stop animations in developer options.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
---------- Post added at 08:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:58 AM ----------
Don't forget to freeze Touchwiz after having replaced it with Go launcher HD. This will prevent it from loading again in the background and hugging your memory. See how your device becomes fast
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Dont mind trying that.but im not sure how to freeze things from start up?
Sent from my GT-P5210 using Tapatalk
maybe u got defect tab 3 ,try antutu benchmark and see how much u get score?
I had tab 3 7.0 got so slow with only 8800 score, and its got RMA due to auto shut down motherboard,and they give me new tab3, now its score 12000-13000pts,more faster and smooth.
Root it. It is much faster with a custom ROM
Don't use the Facebook app. It's a bloated mess.
Don't use S-Voice. Worthless. Use Google Now. Much better voice search/assistant
Yup it sucks
I was going to start the same thread before I saw yours. The SGT3 is a horrible tablet, cheaply built, slow, antiquated resolution and overpriced. I bought one after my Asus Infinity 700T was stolen after a visit too a library. When I went into the store to buy a new tablet I asked the sales person what he would recommend, I had a budget of 300. He excitedly showed me the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, the demo unit unfortunately wan't able to start, an omen I should have realized. I was impressed by the size and weight, the cheap plastic feel was worrying but the latter two plus's were enough for me to pull the trigger. When I got it home, charged it, setup up all of the user credentials, the first thing I noticed was how cartoonishly big everything looked. I did however like the look of the keyboard, so I pushed on and installed all of my favorite apps, I started to notice a lot of lag when installing apps, okay maybe the Play Store just isn't optimized for the x86 CPU, I continued. When the tablet was finished installing, I rebooted, than the nightmare what is Tab 3 started. First I tried surfing with Chrome but when more than 6 tabs are opened, do to the lack of memory you will loose whatever you have typed in one tab after you switch to another. The system is very sluggish, typing with a Logitech Keyboard in QuickOffice, the screen can't keep up with my typing. I can spend all day going through all of my apps and describing to you how slow each one performed but you get the idea, SLOW. I wanted to comment on the screen, the resolution is ridiculously bad for a 300 dollar 2014 tablet, I am actually shocked as to how bad it is. It's bright enough but man, Samsung has gotten so cocky to think that they can shove this crap down our throats. Not to mention how easy it is to scratch, breath on it and it's scratched. I decided to try installing a custom ROM for giggles, I had already decided to return it, wow slim pickings in that arena. The two I found were also really bad, the tablet was a little faster, memory management improved a little, not sure why the developers thought that changing the look of the color scheme for the notifications tab was a good idea, the ROMs did nothing to improve the overall experience though, nothing.
I returned the Tab 3 after only two days of what I would call the worst experience I have ever had with a gadget and bought a Nexus 10. 100x the better machine, it even cost 30 dollars less and has built in HDML. Oh the HDMI, I forgot about the HDMI, Samsung charges 40 dollars for the HDMI cable, it however doesn't charge the Tab 3 when connected and because the battery is so bad you can maybe watch a movie and a half. It also doesn't output 1080P when your in the desktop, just 720P so everything is fuzzy. Stay away from this tablet people, it's bad, expensive and insulting to the consumer.
calden74 said:
Stay away from this tablet people, it's bad, expensive and insulting to the consumer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd have to heartily disagree with you on that. I've had mine for a few days now and it's everything I expected and then some. Even before I froze a ton of stuff it was lagfree for me. Yeah the resolution kinda blows but it's a tablet. If you want 1080p look at your monitor, 720 is more than fine for a mid-level tablet. As for the Nexus, well I'd have to say the Tab is better but my opinion is jaded because it has a SD Slot, that's a monumental dealbreaker for me when it comes to the Nexus. You talk about it being 2014 well in that case the Nexus should have an SD Slot, that's an archaic thing do by not including one. Not everyone wants to cloud everything. :good:
Regardless, this tablet is more than competent. There is a reason it has a huge community and such great ratings everywhere, it's probably one of the highest quality tablets for its price.
Se7enex said:
I'd have to heartily disagree with you on that. I've had mine for a few days now and it's everything I expected and then some. Even before I froze a ton of stuff it was lagfree for me. Yeah the resolution kinda blows but it's a tablet. If you want 1080p look at your monitor, 720 is more than fine for a mid-level tablet. As for the Nexus, well I'd have to say the Tab is better but my opinion is jaded because it has a SD Slot, that's a monumental dealbreaker for me when it comes to the Nexus. You talk about it being 2014 well in that case the Nexus should have an SD Slot, that's an archaic thing do by not including one. Not everyone wants to cloud everything. :good:
Regardless, this tablet is more than competent. There is a reason it has a huge community and such great ratings everywhere, it's probably one of the highest quality tablets for its price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is some things about this tablet that really irks me but I guess I have high hopes for the KK update helping it out. I also agree with you on the SD slot, that is one main reason I did not buy a Nexus. I also must say that I love the IR blaster and the watchon app, its very convenient and I don't need to find my logitech harmony when I'm on my tablet to mess with the tv. I think I got a good tablet for the price I paid, if I had wanted better then I would of been paying $550+. But I am typing this on my laptop with the tab beside me and my Note 2 and a PS Vita,oh and the ipod touch. I think I have enough devices to connect to the internet and the tab fills its roll well.
Se7enex said:
I'd have to heartily disagree with you on that. I've had mine for a few days now and it's everything I expected and then some. Even before I froze a ton of stuff it was lagfree for me. Yeah the resolution kinda blows but it's a tablet. If you want 1080p look at your monitor, 720 is more than fine for a mid-level tablet. As for the Nexus, well I'd have to say the Tab is better but my opinion is jaded because it has a SD Slot, that's a monumental dealbreaker for me when it comes to the Nexus. You talk about it being 2014 well in that case the Nexus should have an SD Slot, that's an archaic thing do by not including one. Not everyone wants to cloud everything. :good:
Regardless, this tablet is more than competent. There is a reason it has a huge community and such great ratings everywhere, it's probably one of the highest quality tablets for its price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad your happy with your purchase. The Samsung Tab 3 10.1 when compared with other tablets actually has one of the smallest followings at XDA. Just compare the previous versions forum with the new one, you have 2 custom ROMs versus 20 plus for the Tab 2. Every single review I have read says the same thing, laggy tablet, obsolete the second it came off of the assembly line. The SD card issue doesn't really bother me because I happen to like cloud storage but I understand your need for it. Can you tell me what you like about it, it's just so slow for me, my Motorola Xoom 1 that is 4 years old feels faster. In fact I get higher frame rates in almost every game that I play vs. the Tab 3. What about the problem of scratching, that doesn't bother you or only having 300mb of memory free for apps, the horrible battery life, 50 dollar HDMI cable that doesn't output 1080p desktop nor does it charge the unit while plugged in, oh my gosh the list goes on. I would have spent the extra 100 and gotten a Sony Xperia Z.
calden74 said:
Can you tell me what you like about it, it's just so slow for me, my Motorola Xoom 1 that is 4 years old feels faster. In fact I get higher frame rates in almost every game that I play vs. the Tab 3. What about the problem of scratching, that doesn't bother you or only having 300mb of memory free for apps, the horrible battery life, 50 dollar HDMI cable that doesn't output 1080p desktop nor does it charge the unit while plugged in, oh my gosh the list goes on. I would have spent the extra 100 and gotten a Sony Xperia Z.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's much slower than the Nook Tablet which has been given to my mom since I bought the Tab3 and frankly I've never wanted to go back. As far as speed is concerned if I can multi window a HD video and look at Facebook or the internet at the same time I'd consider the device high speed. Seriously, this guy has done very good for me so far and I'm a major techie(Should be evident by my existence on XDA). I don't really play 3D games on my Tab since i leave major gaming for my PC however FPSE(PS1 Emulator) runs like a champ on this tab. Scratching? All LCD screens have been known to be prone to scratching, if that concerns you so much you can get a case and a screen protector, on my old iPod I bought a infinicase and I took that thing EVERYWHERE, dropped it probably once or twice a day and it was never scratched, having a case that puts the screen at a lifted height from the ground guarantees safety unless it hits at an angle which in that case you're boned. If you're referring to key scratching or something then idk, I've never imagined putting my tablet near things that could ruin it. 300mb of free memory for apps? Taking a quick glance at my storage i have almost 10 gigs of free room on my system storage and plenty on my SD Card, after installing probably a dozen or so various applications. 50$ HDMI cable? I'm not surprised, those suckers ain't cheap. Honestly if you wanted to HDMI it to your TV I would've checked online for more information before making the purchase, the fact that it doesn't charge while being plugged into HDMI in no way surprises me, unless you wanted a charger+HDMI in one sorta thing. Once again I don't personally care about 1080p or 720, I can only see the difference on a monitor, on a TV it's serviceable at worst which is more than enough for a tablet hooked up to a TV.
felt like pitching in here to say that the OP didnt mention what size he got - if it was the 7" model, its specs are basically the same as the tab 2 7.0
my tab 3 8.0 was a lot faster than my tab 2 7.0, and a hella lot faster once it was tweaked/OC'd.
agreed with one users comment about the MHL HDMI being poor - the cable i have allows it to charge while it works, but due to the tablet being 16:10, i get black bars on my 16:9 HDTV. the built in movie app corrects this, but it doesnt make sense for it to not be 16:9 in the first place.
What are you running up there..top left corner...pls list out the apps running in the background
Sent from my SM-T211 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Mines a tab 10.1"
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Se7enex said:
You talk about it being 2014 well in that case the Nexus should have an SD Slot, that's an archaic thing do by not including one. Not everyone wants to cloud everything. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotta totally agree with you there on not wanting to cloud everything, so the good old SD card is a must IMHO.
But horses for courses as they say.
---------- Post added at 04:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:48 PM ----------
Forgot to add that I recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy Tab3 and think it's great and a lot nicer to use than my aging ASUS TF101
gonna just sell mine i think and take a £50 loss. I cant stand how slow it is even with a custom rom.
It can't be thaaat slow (under normal circumstances). I mean there must be something defective or something going wrong in the background. I know that benchmarks are not the most ideal way to measure performance but having a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 for comparison which performs like 8800 on Antutu and Tab 3 10.1 is in the margin of 20000-22000 it's hard to believe that the device is not capable to offer atleast equaly good performance as the Tab 2 7.0 which is rather good (not the best, but not even near to what your Youtube videos show let's say). I plan to buy it brand new for 210 Euros (~289$) and I HIGHLY DOUBT you can find another tablet for that price with the same screen size and not be from a random Chinese brand or a rebranded Chinese product. My advice would be, wait for KitKat update to come out or try CM11 and then redo a review and if you consider it to be still that bad return it or sell it. Also you don't describe on what usage your were doing with it. I plan to get it for my mother just for surfing and stream some Youtube videos and I doubt it's going to be that bad but feel free to prove me wrong.
im getting 13149 score
it gets to 87% then says test is terminated.

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