I have never owned a tablet before. I never thought I had a use for one. But once the iPad and Android tablets started flooding the market, I kept thinking, "man, those are cool". But I still didn't know what I would use one for.
So now I have a G Tablet, with all of the mods applied, but I still don't know why I need it, or want it. I do most of my computing at my desk. When on the go, I use my Nexus One. Right now my G Tablet is just an expensive Angry Birds console.
So, tell me what you use yours for, before I get bored and return this item.
BTW, This is not a knock on the G Tablet, I am very impressed with the hardware (except for the viewing angles) on this device.
personally i got it for my kitchen to have a laptop like device that isnt so big and bulky like a laptop for internet radio and to access apps and cooking apps for the wifey. plus something to quickly access the web in the kitchen without having to open the laptop or try getting to the browser on my phone.
also use it to control the lights throughout the lights since i have x10 lighting in my house.
I was like you, thinking that the combo of a desktop computer, a laptop, and my Nexus One meant that a tablet would be unnecessary. I'd almost always be on either my laptop or my N1 in the evenings while watching TV, just keeping an eye on e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Plus playing a lot of Angry Birds.
But, since I got my gTab, I've used my laptop maybe twice in five weeks. My phone just sits at my side in case I get an actual call (rare!). I use my tablet *all the time* when I'm on the sofa. It's great to have a much larger screen to look at (instead of my N1) when reading Kindle books or playing Angry Birds or just surfing. I also like typing on it more since I installed Thumb Keyboard, which in landscape mode has a split-keyboard to allow for easy thumb-only typing. I watch more streaming video than I ever would have bothered to on my N1.
And it's ergonomically much more comfortable than dealing with my laptop all evening.
It's also great to have when on the treadmill compared to an N1, again for Kindle or whatever.
I use it for music on the go around my home. I may be in the kitchen doing some cooking, or helping with laundry or cleaning. I do it all with music.
I use it to surf while on the couch watching TV, anything that pops to my mind...something relating to the show, etc.
I use it in the kitchen in the rare occasion I feel like doing something different. My wife is an awesome cook but she gets home at 5 or so, so sometimes I try to do the right thing and cook some dinnah...and sometimes I'm inspired enough to try a recipe from the net.
I use it in bed when I'm winding down to go to sleep. Music or maybe an episode of something; surf the web or read an e-book.
I use it to read...magazines, ebooks, whether I'm in the couch, on the balcony, etc.
So in the end, for me it's a great value. I just wish it worked properly without flashing additional stuff.
It's a really great notebook replacement when all you want to do are the lighter things like listen to music, watch tv, surf the web or read a book/magazine. Can you do these things on your PC or Notebook? Of course you can!, but if you're the type of person who doesn't like to sit behind a PC or under a laptop for 12 hrs then it really works out.
My 2 complaints, 1 major and 1 minor are how crappy the initial software is (major) and how heavy it is (minor)...the weight may be necessary as I suspect the battery to be the culprit, and almost all the Tegra 2 devices releasing currently are this heavy, but a nicer weight would have been 1lb vs. 1.55lbs which becomes weighty in one hand after a while. The Archos 101 is just around 1lb and feels very nice to hold.
Dashboard on my work desk for scrolling news, weather, to do list and email (work station stays on task-monitor my usage to your heart's desire It department!!!!)
Desk top digital picture frame
Surfing web on the couch.
Watching missed TV shows from my bed using Bluetooth headphones after the wife's asleep
Surfing these bulletin boards.
Kindle book reader
I don't social network but I hear twitter and Facebook are popular.
Watching news clips
Trying to figure out away to port my weekly Netflix movies to this for easy viewing while traveling
Thinking of trying to setup a way to get work email and edit spread sheets real quick.
Have yet to really figure out how well some of my ideas will work.
What is wrong with an expensive angry birds console
@allenfx, have you tryed using documents to go app for editing spread sheets
Based on my experience so far:
Aggravation !!!
I used this to play emulators like Tiger Mame and Snes, I watch Justin TV, browse the web, a night clock...etc. The 10.1 screen is great for all of those things especially on long road trips like the one I took with my family last week. My kids were playing and watching videos for most of our trip. I love this thing!!!
They also used this to Vid chat. It was great because they got to say Merry Xmas to their grandparents face to face (sorta).
All of this and the battery was still at 30%+ after a 7 hr drive! That's frickin crazy...I think. Escpecially with the tablet running those tasks.
I like these ideas. Keep them coming.
I normally use my eee pc on the sofa and what not. I can see this is better solution for that, since it plays videos much better.
@dragonfly1113
I am interested in the home automation you mentioned. Can you describe your setup?
Thanks Everyone.
thewayne01 said:
@dragonfly1113
I am interested in the home automation you mentioned. Can you describe your setup?
Thanks Everyone.
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Click to collapse
First you gotta look into x10 lighting which is special lighting for your house, the house i bought i was lucky enough it had the lighting in it already i just needed the "base". What happends is you get a "base" which sends signals out to devices lights/appliances/security systems for them to turn on and off. They reach out to modules which you add to a light, for instance you get a wall switch one instead of wiring the wires to a normal light switch you wire them into this x10 module which has dials on them you set the dials to a "channel" and thats how it communicates with the base. it sounds more complicated than it really is, a very easy affordable way to get it is with lamp modules which are the cheapest and they plug right into any wall outlet and have a female end on the other side where you plug in something like say a lamp. If you need anymore info on the actual setup of x10 just research on google x10 lighting and it will give you all the info.
for the app there are many paid apps out there you can get but your best off with the one thats free called autom8 its not on the market but there is a link for it if you search "autom8 android" in google you should be able to find it, it has a video attached to it of the kid doing it on his android phone, i have it on my droid 1 and now on my g tablet in the kitchen so i can turn on the lights before i even walk into the house
dragonfly1113 said:
First you gotta look into x10 lighting which is special lighting for your house, the house i bought i was lucky enough it had the lighting in it already i just needed the "base". What happends is you get a "base" which sends signals out to devices lights/appliances/security systems for them to turn on and off. They reach out to modules which you add to a light, for instance you get a wall switch one instead of wiring the wires to a normal light switch you wire them into this x10 module which has dials on them you set the dials to a "channel" and thats how it communicates with the base. it sounds more complicated than it really is, a very easy affordable way to get it is with lamp modules which are the cheapest and they plug right into any wall outlet and have a female end on the other side where you plug in something like say a lamp. If you need anymore info on the actual setup of x10 just research on google x10 lighting and it will give you all the info.
for the app there are many paid apps out there you can get but your best off with the one thats free called autom8 its not on the market but there is a link for it if you search "autom8 android" in google you should be able to find it, it has a video attached to it of the kid doing it on his android phone, i have it on my droid 1 and now on my g tablet in the kitchen so i can turn on the lights before i even walk into the house
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Click to collapse
That's frickin cool! haha. I didn't know that even existed.
I travel quite a bit for the company I own and I am just flat tired of hauling around a laptop around airports etc. Mostly what I do is keep in touch with email but occasionally have to get into one of the network servers. I tried doing this with my smartphone but it was just too tiny and too limiting that way so I kept on hauling around my laptop.
The tablet allows me to do these without the laptop hassle. If I have to answer an email it is still a minor pain with a screen keyboard but with the tablet its much less of a hassle. During flights I can use it to play games, compose emails for sending later, writing notes or even just reading.
Its a lot less weight to carry. It may not seem like much to some but after carrying around a leather case with a shoulder strap with a six pound laptop and another two pounds of other stuff I would get to my hotels with big red strap marks on my shoulder. Now the weight is reduced by well over half and it "feels" good.
R
This is interesting stuff. First, the autom8 android seems to be an abandoned app. But reading some forums there appear to be other alternatives out there that do the same thing and have an active developer.
The price of the x10 modules are incredibly cheaper when they came out years ago. I hadn't looket at it lately but I did when they first came on the market and I thought that they were crazy expensive and I never looked at them again. Now, you can buy kits that are just about dirt cheap.
Sounds like a fun plaything but I don't see much use for it myself. If I still lived in Los Angeles it would have lots of good uses for security. But, now I live out in the country in rural Kansas and when we went to Europe we forgot to lock the front door. No biggie, didn't worry about it and when we got back all was fine.
R
I am in the same boat not sure why I bought it at the beginning. I have a laptop (very light-weight 4lb + very fast CPU + 14.1 screen), a desktop and a couple of pocket PCs (HP iPAQ). Now, my g-tablet has a "real" purpose.. is to piss off my apple-addicted co-workers (most of my co-workers use Mac laptops + Ipads, Iphones, etc). Even my helpdesk dept does not like Android, linux or windows and they think Apple is the best. Anyways, I brought my G-tablet to work one day and showed them CNN.com with Flash and ran the Quadrant score.. hahahaha.
Fuzzy John said:
Based on my experience so far:
Aggravation !!!
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Click to collapse
Hahahaha!
I know EXACTLY how you feel. You know how I see it? You can buy few other electronics for $350-$400 that are going to pull off what this can. It's a handheld computer - it runs better graphics than I think most netbooks at this price point and the only other electronics you will buy with $400 is maybe a mid end 32" LCD TV which let's face it - you probably already own something bigger/better, in fact maybe even 2 or 3.
So I mean....unless you're willing to WAIT until March/April for the more solid stuff to come with either 2.3 as the base or Honeycomb, at least you can get a few things done in the meantime with the newest stock s/w....and hopefully by the time they become mainstream we'll get an official update that even the devs won't feel necessary to mod too heavily to be workable.
I almost decided to return mine today when the screen became unresponsive and no amount of claimed calibration would work. But I calmed down, did a full wipe and now it's good. I think the hardware is pretty solid, it's just the software that is a total mess and the devs here are doing the best they can with what they have but in the end I think it's the people that sit down in labs and workstations that need to make at least a solid software core for things to be based upon and I don't think that's the case with the tnt software, zpad software or vega software. I think it's all based on some pretty crummy stuff. I still have high hopes for something better when Honeycomb comes, or something written from the ground up by the devs here based on 2.3.
man let me see......what don't you use the gtab for????? lol. I mainly use it while watching tv i can watch football and browse the web. i like the google finance app to check my stocks. its great entertainment when i have company i leave it on the coffe table so guests can play with it or surf the web... yeah i have 2 laptops even an ultra light and thin 11.6" screen 3.5 lbs but i still prefer this as my internet browser while on the couch... sure i can do all that on my iphone 4 but i cant even look at that small screen after getting used to my tab! i tether my phones internet to it so a long ride in the car goes by quick, when others are driving of course. i love the old school nintendo emulators also...again can do all that from my phone but why when i have a ten inch screen.
Sent from my VEGAn-TAB-v1.0.0b3 using Tapatalk (while on the couch waiting for MNF to start)
Travelling with less than two pounds... access to my brokerage account and virtually all the investment pages I tend to use... E-mail... news, sports, weather... Twitter feeds I follow... much easier to carry around the house than the laptop. An aside: the WiFi is very sensitive. On an Amtrak train, waiting to leave Chicago's Union Station and then at least for an hour or two heading West to Denver, I had the choice of a dozen or so connections available to me. About half were open networks from hotels and eateries. As the train picked up speed, available connections changed every few minutes. Crazy stuff. The December VS update just before Christmas was wonderful for this stock gTablet. The only fix I want now is video added to Skype capabilities.
Tom
3 movies on one charged battery..... Enough said...
jacindc said:
But, since I got my gTab, I've used my laptop maybe twice in five weeks. My phone just sits at my side in case I get an actual call (rare!). I use my tablet *all the time* when I'm on the sofa. It's great to have a much larger screen to look at (instead of my N1) when reading Kindle books or playing Angry Birds or just surfing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Chat, read email, browse the web, all on my sofa and much more comfortable. I use my laptop in the morning... to prop up my tablet.
-=Sent from my VS GTablet (VEGAn b4) using Tapatalk=-
I use my g tablet for everything the only time I use my PC was to download the new roms but now I have rom manager working my PC is just a dvr I also use the PC as dual boot 64 bit windows/linux. If I could use Linux on the g tablet my PC would be an expensive dvr only right now I'm using vegan beta4 and its pretty smooth
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"
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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.
hi
Does anyone know what happened to the 'clambook' notbook dock for MHL kind of devices...
I guess all we need is a MHL-HDMI display and a bluetooth keyboard, or did Apple buy them out of making those devices.
Any other brands any one knows....
I am hoping we will have a Ubuntu App/version for this phone and this would double up as a ubuntu notebook for mobile use.
G
http://clamcase.com/clambook-android-and-iphone-laptop-dock.html
I've been watching this item carefully for months now hoping it would pop up. There has been nothing of late. I found this post just by checking for updates on google.
I imagine that they're still working on it but with a mixture of things like the new Nexus 4 using a non-standard micro HDMI and Motorola's abandonment of Ubuntu has thrown a bit of a wrench into their system. They're probably still looking to release something like it but since they've gone silent for so long I'll bet that they've put this on hold until they can create a system that will functionally work for almost every high end phone on the market (not a menial task).
I need a new computer and I had a master plan of building a nice tower that will support a lot of my engineering software and then remote desktopping from a Clambook is not going so well. It would be nice to have some kind of ETA from Clamcase, I'm not going to be happy if I buy a new portable computer only to have it released in a month.
This thing looks amazing
I need to find IMHO these are the future of personal computing...
I'm going to be on the road with kids for a fairly long trip and I'm looking for tips. My android devices are aging, but they're what I will have.
- 2x Samsung Galaxy S4s running KitKat
- Samsung Galaxy Tab2 running KitKat
- HP Touchpad running ICS (I think?)... whatever the last cyanogen ROM was for it
I've got two kids - one is six and can run the device himself. Not worried about that - it'll likely be the touchpad. The other will be pushing two, so needs some help. She's darn good at unlocking screens even if they've got some sort of kid protection. And before I go farther, no, the kids won't be on these a ton. I'm looking for some input in the following areas:
1. What are some good headrest mounts that we can put the tablets on? I know there's a bunch out there, and a ton of reviews as well... but it always seems like for as many good reviews, there's a bunch of bad ones. I mainly just don't want the kids looking down at their laps.
2. Video player software. There's tons of players. I can't count how many I've tried. VLC usually does the best, except on the Tab2 where the screen lock is easily thwarted. The way they highlight the unlock button just makes a 2yr old one want to tap it. Plus hitting the home button still takes the user home. I just want something that simple with a good kid lock.
3. Partially due to the above issue, I'm looking for something that will let me control the video remotely. I've tried a couple apps that share video but they haven't worked well. I just want to be able to hit pause, play, fast-forward... on another device. Something similar to how you can watch YouTube on your phone, the broadcast it to your TV and still control it on your phone. Of course, this needs to be able to work over some sort of local connection since most of the trip won't have data.
We're already set with chargers. I haven't decided how to handle audio for the 2yr old... probably too soon for headphones.
Thanks
Bump. TIA.
I was given a free Xfinity Flex streaming device when I signed up for their internet service. The device includes only the apps that they chose to make available and the functions they offer, which I find a problem.
One good example is that the device has an HDMI input port as well as an HDMI output port, but they have that port disabled with no way to enable it.
I would also like to add the Hoopla Digital app to the device, as my local library offers a subscription to it.
Has anyone managed to unlock this device?
Dave
It would be swell if there was anything even remotely indicating that this box could be hacked in any way, but I'm afraid there hasn't been. Not now and not for the last few years or so that I've been keeping an eye out for developments/chatter. if I was capable of hardware hacks on that level I would be the first to take a crack and share the tek if successful... Alas, I am not so until someone who is capable also finds sufficient motivation to do so, this thing'll be nothing more than a glorified paperweight (or pair of paperweights, if you want to put its remote to use, too... Though I haven't actually been searching to see if there are any hacks for the remote itself, independent of the apparently impenetrable box it's paired with)
I'm sick of this thing taking up space among my parts drawer. Plus it looks pretty slick, is entirely wrapped in silicone (remote too) or something similar and would generally make a nice addition to any of my TV's if I could just forgo, like... everything currently on the box. Or at least all of the restrictive elements/hardware and software blocks, etc. I need to get over my hesitancy to throw any old tech away for want if its parts and just toss this one...
If I had the first clue re: where I'd even start...