Where is the development? - Shield Q&A

Seems that custom ROMs are nonexistent, and things have come to crawl around here. I thought for sure we would have been further along by now. Anyone?

What sort of custom development would you like to see for this device? Anything in particular?
Not sure how it would work out, but I think it would be interesting to see a port of Ubuntu Touch for SHIELD myself.

CM, Miracast games to TV, more hmdi options such as screen off while stream movies without 3rd party apps. I really don't care for PC to shield, a waste of time in my book. Hope Nvidia presses devs to add Shield controls to their games. Need a better option for games+data to SD card. Their apk fix is an [email protected]@ joke.

Ubuntu is a joke theses days, they force feed their eco system. Their vision in mid 2000s was great now just lost. That's what happens when outside sources fund your business. Slackware is what really makes me enjoy Linux. Stays true to its roots despite what others say. Mark my words CM will be lost now that its a business with funding only a matter of time. Thxs

shawnchalfant said:
CM, Miracast games to TV, more hmdi options such as screen off while stream movies without 3rd party apps. I really don't care for PC to shield, a waste of time in my book. Hope Nvidia presses devs to add Shield controls to their games. Need a better option for games+data to SD card. Their apk fix is an [email protected]@ joke.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so many problems with this device that affect a lot of the trivial functions for the main reasons i bought it for (GAMING?!?!).
im not trying to come off as a "hater" on these Shield forums here as im actually somewhat of a nvidia fanboy but, ive been wanting this device since before it was even a idea on Nvidias dry erase board. now after owning it since launch i barely use it because of all these issues...
- horrible D-pad (which may never have a fix since its hardware)
- SD card limitations
- 0.5 second audio lag in 100% of emulators i use
- noticeable input lag in 100% of all the games ive played (not streaming)
- sleep/wake performance issues
- stripped screw holes (also a hardware thing).
all in all im just really disappointed and i think its sad that my Xperia play is still my main Android gaming device and my Shield is just collecting dust
really close to listing this thing on eBay and it breaks my heart. :crying: but i just cant see myself using this thing until all the issues are fixed. looks like ill get burned on this Tegra just like i did on the ZuneHD...

I am getting really close to selling mine for the same basic reasons.

Related

[Q]Hardware/software questions about Xoom

Hey all,
I have a few questions about the Xoom since I'm thinking about getting one (and yes, I am comparing it to the iPad 2).
First off, we've all seen Anandtech's graphical benchmarks of the Xoom. I'm taking those with a grain of salt though because from what I've seen from the Xoom when I've tried it at Best Buy, the Xoom seems to perform perfectly fine.
That said, do you think the Xoom's bottleneck in terms of graphical performance is more on the software end? Or is it more because of the hardware? Right now, I see myself doubting the Tegra 2.
Next, how well does the HDMI video output work? Has anyone tried it directly from the tablet? Or do you actually need the dock (I've read this somewhere) to use the HDMI video output? I assume it's easy to do, right?
I know this has been discussed before, but while I'm here asking questions, I figured I might as well: how's the office productivity with the Xoom? I won't necessarily need apps to edit Word/Excel/Powerpoint documents (though it'd be nice), but to at least view them and perhaps display them via the HDMI out could be very useful for me at work.
Lastly, how have your experiences with the video chat been so far? With Fring (I would like to be able to do cross-platform video chat, specifically with iOS devices since I have friends/family who use them)? Google Chat?
That's all I've got for now. Thanks!
I have had the xoom for almost a month. I think the performance is great, but I have no I pad experience other then playing with them in the verizon store.
I like this long battery life, the cameras have been fun though the app support is still lacking. I still can't video skype etc. But I am biased towards android and will wait for the market to catch up.
I have purchased a micro hdmi cable to regular hdmi from microcenter and it works fine, I think it defaulted to 720p. But everything shows up on the screen except for the bottom menu bar. Like the bottom 10 pixels or something.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
This is an uneducated guess compared to some of the realllllllllllllly smart people on xda but i think that if you can play games like Samurai II: Vengance in full screen full res the hardware schould have no trouble playing back a video file at that resolution (it doesnt have all that GPU work to do!). So i personally think the issue is software.
norsairius said:
Hey all,
I have a few questions about the Xoom since I'm thinking about getting one (and yes, I am comparing it to the iPad 2).
First off, we've all seen Anandtech's graphical benchmarks of the Xoom. I'm taking those with a grain of salt though because from what I've seen from the Xoom when I've tried it at Best Buy, the Xoom seems to perform perfectly fine.
That said, do you think the Xoom's bottleneck in terms of graphical performance is more on the software end? Or is it more because of the hardware? Right now, I see myself doubting the Tegra 2.
Next, how well does the HDMI video output work? Has anyone tried it directly from the tablet? Or do you actually need the dock (I've read this somewhere) to use the HDMI video output? I assume it's easy to do, right?
I know this has been discussed before, but while I'm here asking questions, I figured I might as well: how's the office productivity with the Xoom? I won't necessarily need apps to edit Word/Excel/Powerpoint documents (though it'd be nice), but to at least view them and perhaps display them via the HDMI out could be very useful for me at work.
Lastly, how have your experiences with the video chat been so far? With Fring (I would like to be able to do cross-platform video chat, specifically with iOS devices since I have friends/family who use them)? Google Chat?
That's all I've got for now. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I'm not an expert in this area, but my time with the Xoom indicates that it's a software issue. There are several games available in the market that look absolutely great on the Xoom, and run very smooth without any hiccups. Emulation, which is all done in software, tends to be a good stress-test for hardware. You should see StarFox 64 on N64oid, it's smooth as butter. I have no doubt the software will catch up and in time show off this hardware platform - don't forget there are several tablets being released with very similar specs running Honeycomb.
2. HDMI output works great, it's a full mirror. Just the other day, I was waiting in a building lobby that had a huge Panasonic HDTV hanging on the wall, but there was some issue with the cable TV service. So I took out the Xoom, plugged in the HDMI cable, and fired up some episodes of The Office. Employees walking by were surprised and said "it's about time they got that thing fixed!", not knowing my Xoom was providing the content. Gotta admit, that felt pretty cool.
3. There are plenty of office productivity apps for Android, like Documents To Go. Some are free, and have a paid version that allows you to edit documents as well. As I said before, the Xoom allows for full mirroring via HDMI-out, so this should work for you. I don't to a whole lot of Office-document editing, mostly viewing of Excel, Word, or PDF attachments, which works just fine on the Xoom.
4. I don't use Fring anymore, ever since Skype blocked them, so I migrated to Tango on my EVO, and it works just as well on the Xoom. I've made video calls over 3G on the Xoom, and it works as expected. Really looking forward to a full Skype client. I haven't tried GChat yet.
Hope this helps. Just remember that the Apple vs Google mentality is in stark contrast: Google's stuff is always in development, so the software often needs time to catch up to the hardware, whereas Apple's stuff is ready to go right out of the box. Is Honeycomb incomplete? I'd say yes, but it's already off to a good start.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone!
Now, do you all think the Xoom may become a "developer device" similar to what the Nexus One/S are since the Xoom runs stock Honeycomb? Do you foresee any issues with installing any future updates that come straight from Google since the hardware runs the stock OS just fine?
Also, have any of you tried emulators like SNESoid on the Xoom yet?
norsairius said:
Thanks for the feedback, everyone!
Now, do you all think the Xoom may become a "developer device" similar to what the Nexus One/S are since the Xoom runs stock Honeycomb? Do you foresee any issues with installing any future updates that come straight from Google since the hardware runs the stock OS just fine?
Also, have any of you tried emulators like SNESoid on the Xoom yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It already is the developer device for honey comb, it's what Google used to show off honeycomb first and it's what Google gave devs early on and gave away at the game developers conferences a couple weeks ago for devs to make games on. it's what nvidia uses to show off demos and games.
Gotcha, well, that certainly increases the longevity of the device!
It would seem then that in my iPad2 vs. Xoom comparison going on in my head, the Xoom is edging ahead.
I'm not a particular fanboy of either Apple/iOS or Google/Android, so this comparison has been tough for me.
So what I've concluded so far then is that the iPad is certainly the more refined and mature product now, but the Xoom is easily more versatile. I have no doubts that the Xoom, with updates, will easily be as good, if not better than the iPad.
And especially given the fact that the Xoom will be able to use updates directly from Google when they come out, the device should have a relatively long and useful life (unless I'm misinterpreting what people are saying around here).
Nope, you hit the nail on the head. the Xoom will have a long and fruitful life from everything I can tell.
I remember when the Macintosh had very few software options, while PCs had EVERYTHING. I see it as the same kind of situation now when comparing the Xoom to the iPad 2. I'm also predicting the same level of success for Honeycomb tablets... just a matter of time!
XoomTech.net

Top hardware but lots of stuttering: do we deserve better?

OK, I bought an Android Tablet. Although the iPads probably are better for the average user, that's not the case for me: I'm a developer, a tweaker. I want to root stuff, to play with widgets, customisations, and so on. That's why I feel more related to Google than to Apple.
So I went for an Android tablet. I did not want a cheap, slow, outdated one like the ones you can buy at the supermarket for no money.
I was going for quality, so I bought an Asus Infinity. The tablet with the fastest hardware you can get. Splendid HD screen. Nice hardware keyboard included. This should be a top buy!
I have the tablet for some days now, and yes, the hardware is quite good. Decent aluminium unibody, although the color is not my style and the shiny metal catches all finger prints. The 1920 x 1200 display is really outstanding. No complaints here.
But where it goes wrong is the software ...
Android ICS, with minor tweaks by Asus, looks ok. But the OS and apps don't run smooth at all...
Apps run slugish or even freeze for seconds. Even keyboard input hangs sometimes. The stock browser and the Google Chrome browser can render basic sites quite well, but more advanced stuff like animations and video is just bad.
I compared with an iPad 1 and the iPad almost always wins involving smoothness of scrolling and interacting with inline video. An iPad 1, more than 2 years old, is faster than the Android tablet with the fastest hardware available on tablets. That's just ... sad. Very disapointing.
Another problem is the fact that no sites are well tested on Android, resulting in quirks that probably are solved on iOS because every decent site developer does test on his iPhone and iPad. But not on the huge number of Android devices out there. And being a developer myself, I know by experience that each device can have its own quirks.
A good example is wrong platform detection, resulting in bad user experience at the best, lack of features, or even no content at all at worst. 'You need to install Flash to run this site' ... Ok, Android can run Flash, but its days are over, as we all know.
So, what's up next?
Shall I make use of the 'cooling down period' and return this tablet? Exchange it for an iPad3? Will Jelly Bean solve some issues? Will these problems be solved by a system update? Will future sites be rendered better when html standards are used more often and Android browsers improve?
That’s a lot of if’s, no?
Apps running slow:
-stock browser
-Chrome
-Dolphin browser: better than the above, but css3 transformations/animations still very bad compared to iOS
-Google plus: scrolling the items is really bad
-Pulse: swiping between pages of an open article is slow and stutters
-Google Earth: slow and even crashes
Apps running ok:
-gmail: smooth
-currents: rather ok, sometimes
-Plume: ok
-Google maps: smooth
I guess, the situation will improve over time. But when will that be? If ever?
Did I expect too much? Am I exaggerating?
Your thoughts please!
My thoughts are that you cannot compare ipad and Android. Everyone keeps saying how smooth is ipad but everyone seems blind to all of the things iPad cannot do and Android (especially the Infinity) does.
I will not make an extensive list but just mentioning browsing the Web, half the websites are gone with iPad: no flash support and even the supposely replacement html5 renders quite poor on iPad. Check the html5rocks slides for instance.
If you are not sensible to that, get an iPad and you will be stuck but happy. Otherwise, open up and discover what Android had to offer.
the change log for jelly bean are out.check them out, that brings quite some news and fixes.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
chevdor said:
My thoughts are that you cannot compare ipad and Android. Everyone keeps saying how smooth is ipad but everyone seems blind to all of the things iPad cannot do and Android (especially the Infinity) does.
I will not make an extensive list but just mentioning browsing the Web, half the websites are gone with iPad: no flash support and even the supposely replacement html5 renders quite poor on iPad. Check the html5rocks slides for instance.
If you are not sensible to that, get an iPad and you will be stuck but happy. Otherwise, open up and discover what Android had to offer.
the change log for jelly bean are out.check them out, that brings quite some news and fixes.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't get me wrong, I am very aware of the benefits of Android. That's why I bought an Infinity ;-)
But I have a strong feeling that surfing the web is just a better experience on an iPad ... and surfing is a primary task for me and most of us.
Dolphin HD works the best, but still regular freezes of seconds. I guess this should be better with the outstanding hardware of the infinity, no?
Tnx for your response.
Gert Stalpaert said:
I guess, the situation will improve over time. But when will that be? If ever?
Did I expect too much? Am I exaggerating?
Your thoughts please!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is not the ideal answer regarding a device you just paid top dollar for but: it may have some software issues but it also has highly capable hardware. Thankfully, there will be many great developers paying attention to this device. Either via official updates or through the combined efforts of the community (or both), I expect most of the issues will be worked out. At the very least, the updates Jelly Bean brings address the lagging and stuttering on Android, and this device will most likely get it soon enough. You can rest assured knowing this is one of the best Android 10-inchers out there and with the proper support it can only get better.
I have only had android tablets up to this point.
I have had the Asus Tf101 and 201. I always found something laggy, or apps crash, etc. Even putting custom ROMS on them caused them to have unique issues based off of whatever ROM I put on it. SO I was constantly re flashing to the new ROM, hoping it fixes the issues and doesn't cause additional issues.
I spent more time flashing, than just using them. What fun is that?
So after I heard all the weird Asus Infinity issues, I canceled my Asus order. I ordered an Ipad 3. Should have it thursday of next week.
But I am using the Ipad 1 that is a work tablet, and it just works. No crashes, no weird little issues.
I am sold. I can't believe I hated the Ipads so much.
One negative to the Ipads though, that I will miss. And that are the widgets and live wallpapers. Other than that, Ill kepp my android phone, but the tab will be an Ipad.
acdcking12345 said:
I have only had android tablets up to this point.
I have had the Asus Tf101 and 201. I always found something laggy, or apps crash, etc. Even putting custom ROMS on them caused them to have unique issues based off of whatever ROM I put on it. SO I was constantly re flashing to the new ROM, hoping it fixes the issues and doesn't cause additional issues.
I spent more time flashing, than just using them. What fun is that?
So after I heard all the weird Asus Infinity issues, I canceled my Asus order. I ordered an Ipad 3. Should have it thursday of next week.
But I am using the Ipad 1 that is a work tablet, and it just works. No crashes, no weird little issues.
I am sold. I can't believe I hated the Ipads so much.
One negative to the Ipads though, that I will miss. And that are the widgets and live wallpapers. Other than that, Ill kepp my android phone, but the tab will be an Ipad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had been considering getting a new iPad rather than waiting for Android to get the tablet basics right; however, the main reason why I haven't is my dislike for Apple's motto of litigation over innovation. So I will give Android tabs another chance and get the Infinity. There will definitely be another *new* iPad and this will certainly not be my last tablet. Hopefully Jelly Bean will improve the whole experience. If it gets it and I love it, then great. Otherwise, I am sure I will be able to sell it for a decent price.
I see what you mean. I figure when you can get a tab with Jelly Bean, I hope that android tabs will work better. I hope so. Android is open source and great things go on with newly developed ROMS.
I just can't handle all of the crap wrong and all of the constant issues having to be fixed. For awhile, Ill use the Ipad 3 and wait until android really kick ass. Unless the new MS Tablet is even better.
Android will never compete with UI experience in comparision to Apple unless they change the underlying system.
Apple gives all power to the UI first which results in a smooth experience. But that will also cost power for background tasks. So while you can smoothly scroll your pages in a PDF suddenly it takes ages to load a page, I have seen it.
Android is balanced. So you might see stuttering while scrolling through PDF's but pages will load a lot faster.
That as an example.
It is up to you what system you prefer.
There is a detailed blog post by some google dev somewhere, couldn't find it, sorry.
Jelly bean will definetly smooth out anything having to do with touch response such as scrolling and pinch zooming. That is if it does what its supposed too.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
My suggestion is to go try out a Nexus 7 and see how smooth it is. The Infinity will be very similar to that once it's updated to Jelly Bean.
KilerG said:
My suggestion is to go try out a Nexus 7 and see how smooth it is. The Infinity will be very similar to that once it's updated to Jelly Bean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is only our wishful thinking, not a fact yet.
I don't see iPad outperforming Infinity in real life performance however, apart from lags when copying large amounts of data (I can't seem to notice iPad 2 being better for browsing, tried it with iPad 2 today - and remember that on the Infinity it is 1920x1200; iPad 3 with a somewhat better resolution has been reported to become burning hot btw).
What bothers me is not the issues with Android, but the shortcuts and crappy manufacturing that seems to plague the category. Asus, for example, comes out with innovative stuff but seems to chronically release devices before they're ready. Samsung came out with a solid, if uninspiring, 10 inch tablet last year, but the new one has been getting reviews that say it's inferior to the previous model. The Nexus 7 is finally rolling out, but with reports of sloppy build -- Asus strikes again? The Acer has decent specs on paper but doesn't make the target in terms of real-life operation.
I hate Apple with a fire deep in my belly. But, most of the time (iPhone 4 antenna excepted), when they release a mobile product, it's ready to roll -- functionally and aesthetically. Much higher initially quality than the Android products I've had or shopped.
Seriously, how fooking hard can it be to put together a decent feature set and build it properly?
I see your point. There have been numerous bugs in every single iPhone version however. My friend who was apple-lover has returned 80% of their devices in the recent years - from iPad 2, through MacBook Air to LCD.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
It lags due to the weak Tegra 3 GPU not able to run at full 60fps for the 1920x1200p.
Heck it even lags on 1280x800 sometimes. Even with Jelly Bean, it will still have hiccups due to the GPU limitation.
MrPhilo said:
It lags due to the weak Tegra 3 GPU not able to run at full 60fps for the 1920x1200p.
Heck it even lags on 1280x800 sometimes. Even with Jelly Bean, it will still have hiccups due to the GPU limitation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You say this, yet the Tegra 3 used in the Nexus 7 isn't as good as the one in the Infinity. The GPU is plenty capable, as it's buttery smooth in Jelly Bean. There is no GPU limitation, it's software at the moment.
So here is my quick background.
I have been a huge fan of tablet. I started out with Windows based tablet back when it was Windows XP that was like 7-8 years ago. Then I moved onto very first android tablet Xoom. Switched to Samsung Galaxy 10.1. Due to specific application only available on Ipad, I had to go with Ipad so I bought iPad 2 and sold Galaxy 10.1, which I still have. I then got Galaxy 10.1 4G Verizon back, which I sold in anticipation of Transformer infinity..
So with that, here is my take on iOS vs. Android.
"Really depends on what you do."
Stability/Fluidity: iOS
It is indeed the fact iPad runs smoother. Though there are some test showed higher stability rate of Android over the iOS, my personal experience goes along with crowd i.e. iOS is more stable. BUT I have not tried ICS (nor New iPad).
Also there is another catch here. iPad is not fail safe. It does still crush and if it crush, it crushes constantly i.e. simply cannot open the file or perform the action.
Multitasking: Android
As someone else suggested earlier in this forum, this is probably due to difference in the underlying focus/design motto between iOS and Android. iOS DOES NOT do real multitasking. I know some say it does, but it's not true for at least the current iOS version and with my iPad 2.
It basically freezes/hibernate the background application. I tried to download files in background several times, or have some application load files into, which usually takes several minutes as it tries to decompress or do whatever it needs to. So after launching these tasks, I go surf web with different browser or application. I go back there is nearly zero progression. There may be minimal multitasking as I have seen progression of downloading file for like 1MB after 10 minutes but this happened more like within the initial few minutes or seconds and since then it had to be frozen in background because I did check this after 2 minutes and still the progression were the same.
Alternatively, needless to say but Android allows you to download files in background but sounds like transformer line suffers from hanging when this happens. I never used torrent on tablet but I remember downloading some files like 100MB+ on web in background while I was using some other application, which usually worked no problem but my foreground application was not demanding.
Applications: Mixed
This is where it really comes down to what you want. Many says Apple store is better, which I agree with games. So if games are your priority, I go with iPAD. It may change in the future, but by the time it changes basically you can buy newer better tablet anyways. So for now for games, go with iPad. But personally, if truly want to play games, I'd rather by portable gaming system like 3DS or PS Vita... But that's just me. Apple store certainly have more selections, and better optimized for iPad. However, many of iPad applications are not free and no real trial. So you have to sort of buy and see.
Whereas, android has tons of applications that are free with ad. This may be one reason why app developers are not making much money on Android market hence avoiding or deprioritizing... who knows. But some applications are simply better on Android. For instance, I use Anki which is perhaps the best cross platform flashcard application. If you want to have the real version of Anki on iPad it costs $20+. You can sort of do a work around with cheaper $5 application but you won't get autosynch of decks, no statistics transfer etc. Whereas on Android.... It's FREE and does autosynch. Other application is ebook reader like epub and pdf. When comparing iPad applications to the Android at least iPad 2 vs. Galaxy 10.1, large files like 300+MB epubs opened much quicker on Galaxy 10.1. Not sure if this is due to pure CPU advantage vs. application difference.
Notifications: Android
Sort of fits into the multitasking but iOS notification is less invasive (using good term), less evident (more of cons for me). When I get new email, Android nicely shows pop up on the corner. In IOS, I generally have no clue until I close my application and check my email. Though notification works with iMessage so may be its just Apple deciding who gets what access to the notification.
File Transfer/Management: Android
Huge downside of Apple. In last 6 months or so, they have added wifi file transfer/synching but this happens only when you have your iPad plugged into outlet.
Individual applications may decide to offer wifi file transfer, but generally slow and its individual application based.
Files are local to each application so very easy to have duplicated files consuming your hard drive space. For instance, if you have a book in iBook, opening it in other EPUB reader you simply have to make a duplicate copy within the other application.
Android is basically simply drag and drop and generally most files can be open from any application anywhere though some does make its own local copy. As far as transfer, AirDroid is such an awesome application.
Jellybean:
The theme of this is amazing. The functionality is not ground breaking but Google finally decides to put emphasis on the UI fluidity. So if it achieves what its intended, I think overall Android simply becomes better ecosystem as it already offers more functionality and flexibility but the major drawback/downside was the UI fluidity. Though as far as application stability, I am not sure if Jellybean is answering that part as I never read anywhere specifically stating such. In any event, ASUS generally so fast in pushing the latest version of Android, I would personally wait until Jelly bean comes out and see if it truly solves the issues. Its definitely a possibility but no gurantee so buying something based on the speculation may not be an optimum unless you got tons of money to spare.
Nexus 7:
Just like Jellybean. This is simple speculation, and probably we should not buy a system based on "what will likely to happen" because there is no guarantee. But I am speculating/hoping when Nexus 7 sells well, which probably does. Developers will have much better support on tablets. Even though Nexus 7 is 7 inch tablet, its resolution is compatible to non-high def android tablet i.e. in theory all the nexus 7 optimized applications will look native on the non-high def android tablet though button layouts may be slightly suboptimal. This is definitely much better than scaling phone app onto the tablet resolution.
I also 'hope' that ASUS gets their act together and resolves the IO issue and lag, or that JB really does the trick. But care should be taken I'm afraid: I'm sure there were many Transformer Primer users who went ahead and purchased 'hoping' the GPS issue was software resolvable; they weren't, it was terminal, and GPS was removed form the official specs. ASUS has a track record.
Lets face it, the camera click issue on 'press to focus' is a hardware design fault (they have not insulated the microphone/s from the focus mechanism). Hard to see how that will ever be solved. It is not an issue that will bother many but what is significant is that it is a sloppy, muppet mistake like the GPS issues on the Transformer Primer that could have been easily avoided - a mistake that camera manufacturers like Casio were making 10 years ago on early digital cameras (I know, I had one). That's just not good enough ASUS.
robhorsefield said:
I also 'hope' that ASUS gets their act together and resolves the IO issue and lag, or that JB really does the trick. But care should be taken I'm afraid: I'm sure there were many Transformer Primer users who went ahead and purchased 'hoping' the GPS issue was software resolvable; they weren't, it was terminal, and GPS was removed form the official specs. ASUS has a track record.
Lets face it, the camera click issue on 'press to focus' is a hardware design fault (they have not insulated the microphone/s from the focus mechanism). Hard to see how that will ever be solved. It is not an issue that will bother many but what is significant is that it is a sloppy, muppet mistake like the GPS issues on the Transformer Primer that could have been easily avoided - a mistake that camera manufacturers like Casio were making 10 years ago on early digital cameras (I know, I had one). That's just not good enough ASUS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good job copying and pasting from your other thread.
The I/O issue isn't hardware related from what I can tell. It really just seems like something that just needs to be resolved in the kernel.
robhorsefield said:
I also 'hope' that ASUS gets their act together and resolves the IO issue and lag, or that JB really does the trick. But care should be taken I'm afraid: I'm sure there were many Transformer Primer users who went ahead and purchased 'hoping' the GPS issue was software resolvable; they weren't, it was terminal, and GPS was removed form the official specs. ASUS has a track record.
Lets face it, the camera click issue on 'press to focus' is a hardware design fault (they have not insulated the microphone/s from the focus mechanism). Hard to see how that will ever be solved. It is not an issue that will bother many but what is significant is that it is a sloppy, muppet mistake like the GPS issues on the Transformer Primer that could have been easily avoided - a mistake that camera manufacturers like Casio were making 10 years ago on early digital cameras (I know, I had one). That's just not good enough ASUS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ASUS has problems with attention to detail. Failing to notice these issues is completely indicative of poor engineering and lacking quality control. Users have been identifying problems right away. I can deal with minor software discrepancies; those can eventually be solved. However, basic hardware problems like these are alarming. On their own they might seem minor, but compounded (camera, I/O, screen ripples, SD card support, ...) I wonder if ASUS just took a bunch of hardware components, fit them together like a puzzle, and then sat on it for months without testing waiting for release. This device is coming half a year after it was announced. These issues could have been corrected.
KilerG said:
Good job copying and pasting from your other thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wasn't exactly the same. ...same poor design and manufacture problems, so same opinions and comments apply, sorry, fact.
cipherbreak said:
ASUS has problems with attention to detail. Failing to notice these issues is completely indicative of poor engineering and lacking quality control. Users have been identifying problems right away. I can deal with minor software discrepancies; those can eventually be solved. However, basic hardware problems like these are alarming. On their own they might seem minor, but compounded (camera, I/O, screen ripples, SD card support, ...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bang on the point, thanks. And compounded also with the Prime GPS debacle.
I doubt Apple will let another Antenna-gate slip out, we'll see.

Tablets worth the price?

So, feel free to flame, but I was writing something in another thread about tablets and the following came to mind:
Are tablets worth what we pay for them? Or are they just a marketing 're-deploy'? Allow me to expound:
Literally just before tablets careened onto the current computer scene(I know windows failed to promote tablets years back), there existed Netbooks. What it seems to me is that Netbooks are what the Industry thought we would want, A very portable yet still completely functional computer. As if even the small laptops weren't small enough...anyway. What I think happened is these things weren't cool enough. Maybe not powerful enough either, but that point should be moot because modern hardware can support this, as proven by current tablets.
I bought a Netbook and loved it, BUT I don't do a lot of gaming, just some simple web browsing, skyping, some skript kiddie type hacking. Plus for me the ultra small design was essential due to the nature of my work/constant traveling blah blah. This thing played movies, had the latest support of my favorite *nixes and performed pretty well except for battery life(typically a measly 3-4 hours) and of course gaming. Then came tablets; they look cooler, offer touch screen capabilities which sometimes feel as cumbersome as alt-tabbing, and have much much better battery and gaming performance, with the added benefit of blending nicely with the current "app store eco-structure".
Ahh, finally my point!!!:
A trend I see rising with tablets is the ability to add a keyboard and mouse....really? So what, then you have a laptop again? Or just the ability to go from cool-tech-but-not-too-nerdy tablet guy, to an fully functional device, and back again? I don't get it, other than the obvious shift to more clever marketing and selling us yet another device. On top of that I can use a USB 2.0 anything on my netbook, or be stuck with a proprietary connecter as with the Transform or iPad. Why would we choose this other than to look cool or because it's being shoved down our throats? What I see is a device (tablet) that is less fuctional, less productive, and more money compared to the more practical, just as portable netbook. I just miss the support of my Netbook, which I only paid $200 for....
Any thoughts...like maybe I'm a crazy hippy that needs to go live in a commune?
my points why my a500 is better use then a netbook,.
portability - no one can say its not easier to carry a slim tablet with a integrated keyboard
functionality - being able to do such things as stand in the street looking through the tab with the camera and seeing augmented reality deal, offer, new location without having to open startup, login and hold a massive block of hardware to do the same, and also a whole plethora of other uses such as barcode scanning, video making ,etc etc imaging scanning barcodes to find cheaper prices with a netbook,,,.,..one handed possible? probably not
battery life, my tablet can go 2days on a single charge with medium usage, a netbook would last a few hours,
i can do pretty much anything on my a500 i can do on my laptop.
i can access and use my laptop with screen and sound from anywhere else in the world.....from my a500 tablet (phonemypc)
also most usb devices connect to my a500 i think the only thing my lappy has that my tablet doesnt is a dvd drive, but the one in my lappy is dusty as hell as i download all my movies and move them between devices to play in diff' areas anyway. and then again my laptop has no gps. and only a front camera
if my laptop im writting this message with was a tablet it would probably be a crap one lol
no gps,no touchscreen, no back camera, front camera is weak no accelerometer no hdmi port lol etc etc
Major edit:
I see your point and don't want to convolute my thoughts too much. I just think a lot of the things you mentioned could be implemented, if the money was there.
You have pointed out that I have kind of answered my own questions...
Why tablets, because the phone market was so successfull and it allows for a lot of control on the developers end of the OS, so it's easier to implement the apps, market place as apposed to a traditional PC software sales setup.
r0zj0k3r said:
I think that depends on what you want to do. with my netbook, I literally could do everything I could on my computer because they were the same OS!!! That means, compiling software, video/audio editing, skype with group video , a similar app store could be integrated into a netbook style os (see ubuntu store). The industry just doesn't want to push it, and because it was easier to shift from phones to what amount to "really big phones"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you think that the new windows OS will allow you to switch between a Tablet and your Netbook without loose of functionality?
warus1 said:
Do you think that the new windows OS will allow you to switch between a Tablet and your Netbook without loose of functionality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it would be a great way for windows to break away from the pack, but I don't think they want to do that now. They seem to be in the same mode as everyone else, lets follow the market instead of trying really new things.

Tesco Hudl 2 tablet.

Ok, so i'm tempted to buy one of these as I have a bunch of vouchers which means i can buy it for £25 instead of £129.
I'm a little concerned about the lack of love of the original Hudl device in terms of custom roms and general hacking , and i kinda understand it since its a UK device. so i'm unsure to go for it because of this. Its an Intel Atom cpu so i would love it if it was able to be installed with windows 8.1/10 eventually.
Anyone else seen the device and have any thoughts on it?
http://www.tesco.com/direct/hudl2-8-wi-fi-tablet/454-7907.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=397-7926
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/tablets/391081/hands-on-tesco-hudl2-review
Looks like I've found the right place for my review
I tried posting this in a comment box on Engadget. Suffice to say, it did not fit! I thought there might be a modding forum for the hudl1 over here on xda but to my surprise there is not :-O slightly concerning. I don't understand why it being a British device would be an issue, we make great stuff!
Anyway here goes..
Had a good shot on the hudl2 today. Going in teaco today was like the opening scenes of the Lego movie. Hudl propaganda everywhere. Point of sale cardboards you expect. But I have to admit impressed with the kiosk they've set up. The branding is simple, and hey had all colours of hudl on display, it definitely lures you in. On top of tat, giving the big brother Lego-movir feel, all of the television displays are showing a hudl2 promo vids on loop. 'Were really pleased to announce...' Etc..
The demo units run in obviously a demo mode. Pristine, I think I might have been their first prodder. All the tabs were heleved in landscape view and the first Hong you notice therefore is how wide they look. If you've seen the nexus7, these seem like pretty much the same ratio. The demo mode has a display encouraging you to 'try it', which if you tap, takes you to the android home screen. Naturally it is maiden with blinkbox icons. The home screen to the left features tescos feed. Things like shopping offers, how to get started on blibkbox etc. You can hide then (they appear as cards), but they come back soon enough. The home screen one to the right of the main, is more blink box a centric with more direct links to movies and music etc.
You can choose to ditch blinkbox icons if you wish but long and short, you're not getting rid of these left and right home screens anytime soon. I had a good look through the options and settings, and nowhere did I see the option to remove ho.eacreens.
Neither was I able to enable developer option s, something to note.
Going into settings, apps, I attempted to close/stop any references to Tesco processes running to see if it was possible to 'de-teaco' the homeacreens. And sure, I was able to stop them. But returning to the home screen starts them again and back they appear, as if they never went away.
The homeacreen to.the left incurs the highest lag in all my experience using the tablet. As you scroll left, the background blurs, which is a nice aesthetic touch but I would hedge my bets that is what's causing the lag. As another person has reported, touching the app drawer brings up the app icons very promptly, with only a slight *very very slight* * delay. To the otaku, this will annoy them possibly, but to.most casual users who don't race around phones/tabs as they likely so on desktop PC's, this won't be a problem at all.
Similarly, launching apps was prompt, about th same as the initial 'pressing on app drawer' button.
It feels very much like a smartphone, with a. Bigger screen, which is what most ppl expect.
The screen. The screen is absolutely stand-out feature on this tab. The colours, to my taster are desaturated enough to look natural, I would estimate skin tones in videos would look very nice on this. Photos look absolutely lovely, and using the tab to tweak them with Google Photos was easy, fun and satisfying.
Play store..
Internet wasslow connection in this particular tescos but at least they're connected! A welcome change to a lot of stores/demos. Indeed, these tabs were 'box-fresh' I downloaded Flipboard, which flipped through lagfree, although I can't say 100% for sure about hr speed because the connection was so slow that images weren't displaying yet.
I downloaded flickr, a nice appfor viewing photos on nice screens and it looked wonderful with next to no.lag (aside the net connection ).
Feel in the hand. These things are naturally powered up and connected via mai s as well as a central stem from beneath the desk holding them up. So I wasn't able to feel how theysit in the hand vertically. But I was able to.hold it horizontally and that was indeed very comfy, the rubbery soft touch back is very nice and trippy too.
No accessories were available yet.
I can't comment on the sound, but the screen is just lovely. Again, to echo others, the viewing angles are not fantastic, but its respectably bright and crisp. No such 'cyan oven mode style' colour options in the settings though, if the look isn't to your preference.
This is my first time using an 8inch tablet, its a nice experience. However this like email in landscape could definitely so with a bit of a makeover (everything appears very large), like email for kids . (Gmail I'm talking about).
Goodgle Newsstand, this had had a recent update which makes it quite graphically intense, using the cards style material UI of upcoming Google Android L. Scrolling through the items incurred a bit of lag, I would put in on par with my galaxy S3 (running CyanogenMod 11l. As a news reading experience, this app has a lot of potential, but Aimo It would only be optimal under android L.
Browsing through the play store for music, movies and books requires a fair amount of close-up viewing it on a galaxy s3, not so here. The items on display are pleasant and text metainfo, like price, genre, year etc. Are nicely legible.
Browsing speed..
Now this is the only area where I was not particularly amazed with the hudl 2. I fired up theverge as its quite intense. The chrome.browser held most of the images in place, however a quick scroll from very top to very bottom of the site had images blinking out of view,, then re-appearing. Not a ram issue I don't think. I think (only suspect) this might be a limit of the atom CPU.
I did nothing more strenuous to he tablet, and apart from that, I would say it is very very serviceable. Especially for £129.
Were it not for this potential.nexus9 around the corner with rumoured android L, I would buy this immediately.
would it be possible to put the GEL launcher on this? and thanks for the in depth review^^^^^^^
nice hands-on. sort out the strange spelllings and wording and you could put that on a proper website.
i'll be getting mine tonight (cost me £25 on top of my clubcard vouchers which have been sitting doing nothing for years) so will give some feedback for what its worth. i'm totally wanting to run windows on it though. I can't get my head around why anyone would chose a (presumably more expensive) Intel x64 chipset over an ARM given that Android is optimised for ARM.
SkEvol said:
I tried posting this in a comment box on Engadget. Suffice to say, it did not fit! I thought there might be a modding forum for the hudl1 over here on xda but to my surprise there is not :-O slightly concerning. I don't understand why it being a British device would be an issue, we make great stuff!
Anyway here goes..
Had a good shot on the hudl2 today. Going in teaco today was like the opening scenes of the Lego movie. Hudl propaganda everywhere. Point of sale cardboards you expect. But I have to admit impressed with the kiosk they've set up. The branding is simple, and hey had all colours of hudl on display, it definitely lures you in. On top of tat, giving the big brother Lego-movir feel, all of the television displays are showing a hudl2 promo vids on loop. 'Were really pleased to announce...' Etc..
The demo units run in obviously a demo mode. Pristine, I think I might have been their first prodder. All the tabs were heleved in landscape view and the first Hong you notice therefore is how wide they look. If you've seen the nexus7, these seem like pretty much the same ratio. The demo mode has a display encouraging you to 'try it', which if you tap, takes you to the android home screen. Naturally it is maiden with blinkbox icons. The home screen to the left features tescos feed. Things like shopping offers, how to get started on blibkbox etc. You can hide then (they appear as cards), but they come back soon enough. The home screen one to the right of the main, is more blink box a centric with more direct links to movies and music etc.
You can choose to ditch blinkbox icons if you wish but long and short, you're not getting rid of these left and right home screens anytime soon. I had a good look through the options and settings, and nowhere did I see the option to remove ho.eacreens.
Neither was I able to enable developer option s, something to note.
Going into settings, apps, I attempted to close/stop any references to Tesco processes running to see if it was possible to 'de-teaco' the homeacreens. And sure, I was able to stop them. But returning to the home screen starts them again and back they appear, as if they never went away.
The homeacreen to.the left incurs the highest lag in all my experience using the tablet. As you scroll left, the background blurs, which is a nice aesthetic touch but I would hedge my bets that is what's causing the lag. As another person has reported, touching the app drawer brings up the app icons very promptly, with only a slight *very very slight* * delay. To the otaku, this will annoy them possibly, but to.most casual users who don't race around phones/tabs as they likely so on desktop PC's, this won't be a problem at all.
Similarly, launching apps was prompt, about th same as the initial 'pressing on app drawer' button.
It feels very much like a smartphone, with a. Bigger screen, which is what most ppl expect.
The screen. The screen is absolutely stand-out feature on this tab. The colours, to my taster are desaturated enough to look natural, I would estimate skin tones in videos would look very nice on this. Photos look absolutely lovely, and using the tab to tweak them with Google Photos was easy, fun and satisfying.
Play store..
Internet wasslow connection in this particular tescos but at least they're connected! A welcome change to a lot of stores/demos. Indeed, these tabs were 'box-fresh' I downloaded Flipboard, which flipped through lagfree, although I can't say 100% for sure about hr speed because the connection was so slow that images weren't displaying yet.
I downloaded flickr, a nice appfor viewing photos on nice screens and it looked wonderful with next to no.lag (aside the net connection ).
Feel in the hand. These things are naturally powered up and connected via mai s as well as a central stem from beneath the desk holding them up. So I wasn't able to feel how theysit in the hand vertically. But I was able to.hold it horizontally and that was indeed very comfy, the rubbery soft touch back is very nice and trippy too.
No accessories were available yet.
I can't comment on the sound, but the screen is just lovely. Again, to echo others, the viewing angles are not fantastic, but its respectably bright and crisp. No such 'cyan oven mode style' colour options in the settings though, if the look isn't to your preference.
This is my first time using an 8inch tablet, its a nice experience. However this like email in landscape could definitely so with a bit of a makeover (everything appears very large), like email for kids . (Gmail I'm talking about).
Goodgle Newsstand, this had had a recent update which makes it quite graphically intense, using the cards style material UI of upcoming Google Android L. Scrolling through the items incurred a bit of lag, I would put in on par with my galaxy S3 (running CyanogenMod 11l. As a news reading experience, this app has a lot of potential, but Aimo It would only be optimal under android L.
Browsing through the play store for music, movies and books requires a fair amount of close-up viewing it on a galaxy s3, not so here. The items on display are pleasant and text metainfo, like price, genre, year etc. Are nicely legible.
Browsing speed..
Now this is the only area where I was not particularly amazed with the hudl 2. I fired up theverge as its quite intense. The chrome.browser held most of the images in place, however a quick scroll from very top to very bottom of the site had images blinking out of view,, then re-appearing. Not a ram issue I don't think. I think (only suspect) this might be a limit of the atom CPU.
I did nothing more strenuous to he tablet, and apart from that, I would say it is very very serviceable. Especially for £129.
Were it not for this potential.nexus9 around the corner with rumoured android L, I would buy this immediately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good review - and the web pages thing does seem to be an issue. I thought I would add a couple of points based on 24 hours of ownership of this device....
The first thing I noticed was how laggy the Tesco launcher was - not helped by the boat load of Tesco crapola on left screen. The first thing I did was put Nova on there and it was like night and day - zero lag. I disabled most of the Tesco apps and hid them in the launcher as well which basically left me with, essentially, a stock Android tablet. It also left no visible sign of Tesco on the tablet because Nova can get rid of the search bar (Tesco had moved their Tesco button up here instead of having it on the Navigation bar on Hudl1) The only gripe about performance would be that there is some lag with some live wallpapers.
I stuck Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat 5 on there and there no problems. Both games play really, really well. I also tested the touch responsiveness - an issue on Hudl 1 - by playing CounterSpy and Alone and it seems to be a lot better on Hudl 2. I have not really had a chance to test the speakers yet as I have mainly used it with headphones. I've also not had any issues with app incompatibility caused by the Intel processor yet. Internet speed seems great so far- even large games downloaded quickly both on home and work WiFi.
My biggest gripe is the 9gb of free space - 11 out of 16gb free should be the minimum. First thing I will do when I root it will be to get rid of some of bloat with Titanium.
Overall though - very impressed. As already mentioned, the screen is just fantastic. Huge improvement on the first one and a really, really decent device. For the money its a no-brainer.
Thanks for continuing the discussion! What you've said all sounds very positive!
Have you managed to root it? I note that there sadly didn't seem to be much support for custom rom'ing the hudl1. But those changes you made with the launcher sound like they took care of any lag, this is great!
One thing you did mention.. I thought i would ask you, for clarity.. When you said..
gripweed said:
Good review - and the web pages thing does seem to be an issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
--were you referring to your own experience with loading pages? Or were you just echoing the concern i had expressed in my review?
Also, to hear that games work well is also really great!
Took the plunge today used my staff discount didn't use any club card put the google launcher disabled everything other than child and my Tesco which I couldn't do. Tablet is really fast display and size and great feels better the nexus 7
SkEvol said:
Thanks for continuing the discussion! What you've said all sounds very positive!
Have you managed to root it? I note that there sadly didn't seem to be much support for custom rom'ing the hudl1. But those changes you made with the launcher sound like they took care of any lag, this is great!
One thing you did mention.. I thought i would ask you, for clarity.. When you said..
--were you referring to your own experience with loading pages? Or were you just echoing the concern i had expressed in my review?
Also, to hear that games work well is also really great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was more echoing your concerns tbh - noticed it crop up in at least a couple of "hands on" reviews and was wondering if it was an issue. I haven't especially noticed but I will try a few more content heavy web page and see what happens. I should apologise for the lack of clarity on my original reply as I haven't rooted it yet- I rooted the last one and ran exposed and gravity box which did compensate slightly for the lack of custom roms. There was a bit of interest in Hudl modding on Modaco last time, which was where I found the rooting info.
I think Rooting may take a while as this is an Intel Atom Bay trail Z3735D cpu. The Onda V975i has the same CPU and has been rooted so it may be possible to adapt it to work although it is running an older version of android which may raise other problems. Also I would not try any rooting method until a recovery ROM and method are available.
My Hudl 2 on order.
---------- Post added at 11:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 AM ----------
Further From my previous post it appears that these Bay Trial tabs can have a Bios so It will be interesting to see how this tab matures. Windows Anyone!
vermillions said:
Further From my previous post it appears that these Bay Trial tabs can have a Bios so It will be interesting to see how this tab matures. Windows Anyone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty cool to think that would be possible.
Windows has a 1000 uses, what would you choose to do? (just curious)
Do you think that Kings might have solution to rooting?
SkEvol said:
Pretty cool to think that would be possible.
Windows has a 1000 uses, what would you choose to do? (just curious)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am the worst person with devices, I like to get them to do more than they were originally intended to do and to tinker and learn as much as poss, then I just end up never using them. But if a Dev overcomes all the obstacles in Boot and Bios and is able to roll all the drivers into a windows rom, I couldn't help myself I would have to test it.
Hudl2 Thread
How do we lobby the XDA Devs to open a section for the Hudl2?
Do we need to raise money to buy one to send it to a dev?
I'd quite like a recovery loader (at the bare minimum) to be able to back up the Hudl2, before asking for some kind dev to port a new Rom to it.
What can we do to make any of the above options happen?
giac0m0 said:
How do we lobby the XDA Devs to open a section for the Hudl2?
Do we need to raise money to buy one to send it to a dev?
I'd quite like a recovery loader (at the bare minimum) to be able to back up the Hudl2, before asking for some kind dev to port a new Rom to it.
What can we do to make any of the above options happen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know the answer to any of your questions but I'd be willing to contribute £5 to the cost of finding out how to root it, in whatever form that takes.
Just out of interest has anyone tried Root Genius? it is made by the same people that made Shuame. If not working I suspect root will probably come from installing IntelAndroidDrvSetup and then a flash from Fastboot if we can get into Fastboot. But it will need someone with the correct knowledge to make the flashable update with the right parameters. All only a guess though.
Hi. Does anyone have an idea of how someone who's not in England can purchase one?
I'm very interest, seems great value for the money.
Thanks.
vermillions said:
Just out of interest has anyone tried Root Genius? it is made by the same people that made Shuame. If not working I suspect root will probably come from installing IntelAndroidDrvSetup and then a flash from Fastboot if we can get into Fastboot. But it will need someone with the correct knowledge to make the flashable update with the right parameters. All only a guess though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone over in MoDaCo had a similar thought and suggested this may work:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2681783
giac0m0 said:
Someone over in MoDaCo had a similar thought and suggested this may work:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2681783
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it might, my Hudl 2 is not yet delivered so I am unable to test at present. But I think it is worth a shot.
(kicking myself for ordering with delivery and not picking up from store.)
vermillions said:
If not working I suspect root will probably come from installing IntelAndroidDrvSetup and then a flash from Fastboot if we can get into Fastboot. But it will need someone with the correct knowledge to make the flashable update with the right parameters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm impressed! I have no idea now you had the thought process of thinking of doing that! I take it you must have quite a lot of experience with routing. I only ropted my s3 because i needed to. Sometimes i wish i had the insight to be able to suggest something like that. I usually work off of what faq or how-to suggests. I'm quite interested in why this device would require a different method because of it's cpu. Interesting to me.
Has anyone had success playing encoded videos e.g. x264 codec and similar? I used to get decent results using MXplayer or VLC beta on my previous tablet (a cheap Chinese version that should be worse than the Hudl2), but now I suspect that poor x86 support from those players is letting it down. I've downloaded the x86 codec for MX and played with the various performance options, but results range from good to appalling depending on the video, with stuttering or full crashes. I've also tried some other players that claimed x86 support, but no dice.
Any advice gratefully received, as I'm very happy with my Hudl2 apart from this.
Sent from my Hudl 2 using XDA Free mobile app

[Q] Shield Questions

Hello,
So I was an energetically awaiting the Nexus 9 only to be disappointed with the lack of storage and MicroSD. I realize the Shield has basically the same storage internally but adds the ability to add the MicroSD which is very important to me.
When I was last in this forum soon after release it sounded like there were several issues with WiFi and screen cracking. Is that still the case or were these quickly overcome? After browsing through here a bit I don't see folks recently complaining of issues so I thought I'd ask before I buy.
Thanks!
MG
moregadget said:
Hello,
So I was an energetically awaiting the Nexus 9 only to be disappointed with the lack of storage and MicroSD. I realize the Shield has basically the same storage internally but adds the ability to add the MicroSD which is very important to me.
When I was last in this forum soon after release it sounded like there were several issues with WiFi and screen cracking. Is that still the case or were these quickly overcome? After browsing through here a bit I don't see folks recently complaining of issues so I thought I'd ask before I buy.
Thanks!
MG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The WiFi antennas are not the greatest and placed poorly. You have to watch how you hold the tablet; cases help.
The cracking happens along the actual body of the tablet not the screen. They start small and get bigger over time. It is unknown if you will have this issue. Nvidia stated they fixed it with a new process when they rolled out the LTE version. Some LTE users have reported cracking though. Nvidia is good about RMA's though, and you will get another if it happens.
The OS is not optimized and has several annoying issues. This will likely get better as they keep rolling out patches and make the jump to Lollipop. It is missing some advertised features such as charging while using OTG for ethernet. This is important as it is the ONLY way Nvidia allows you to stream 1080p/60fps on the tablet with their software and Grid.
Spend a little time on the official forums and youll see the issues. To be honest, I'd wait and see what happens before pulling the trigger. I am on my 2nd tablet; 32gb LTE and it sits on my shelf most the time as it is so unstable and has the battery bug. I'll get back to it when some of these issues are sorted out. Until then I'm having fun porting android on my Jetson TK1. Sad thing is, it's already more stable.
I honestly have not had the issues everyone else seems to be having, I use my tablet daily for many things not just gaming. The battery life is not the best but it is not horrible, the screen is fantastic and there is no lag to speak of. The games are amazing, they are smooth and pretty much every game I have loaded up even non tegra enhanced games seem to run and look better on this tablet than on any of my other devices, which I have owned a lot!
So I would said the whole dual core 64 bit thing is negligible in the current market and the benefits of the SD slot more than make up for it. I myself have a 64gb fast microsd card in my tablet and use Folder Mount for the obb folder, I have roughly 40+ gbs of games installed on my tablet and have no issues...
Thanks for the feedback. Not much of a serious gamer and generally wouldn't use the tablet for that. My primary uses/needs:
Storage - either on board or MicroSD
Travel a lot and use to watch movies and such on planes so being able to do that without lag is important.
Battery life should be reasonable
Easily rootable as I like to tinker.
Browsing, sports apps, some games, etc.
Thanks!
MG
moregadget said:
Thanks for the feedback. Not much of a serious gamer and generally wouldn't use the tablet for that. My primary uses/needs:
Storage - either on board or MicroSD
Travel a lot and use to watch movies and such on planes so being able to do that without lag is important.
Battery life should be reasonable
Easily rootable as I like to tinker.
Browsing, sports apps, some games, etc.
Thanks!
MG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the storage is there since it can support 128b microSD cards
I cannot imagine it would lag playing any videos though I honestly don't use it for that myself
Battery life is decent, not great, not bad.
Super easy to root, compatible with TowelRoot One click APK.
I have not found any apps incompatible with it so far so you should not have any issues with your apps.

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