Hi,
Having had my Samsung GS2 for a few months now, I would really like a lot of the functionality on my coffee table.. the ability to do some web surfing on a larger screen, check emails, etc. But, of course, I don't want to spend a fortune!
So, I was wondering what gotchas I need to look out for around the cheaper end of the market for 7-10" tablets. It seems there are some dirt cheap no-name ones available.. like under £100?!
Many seem to run quite old versions.. do I need to care what version of Android it is running? Can I always just disregard the OS that it comes installed with and instead put on the latest Cyanogenmod or similar build instead? Is Cyanogenmod relevant to tablets? From what I understand of this, it's current core is Gingerbread, and I'm not sure I understand whether that supports tablets and their larger resolutions, or whether Honeycomb is the correct path. Is there a similar project to Cyanogenmod but aimed specifically at tablets?
I'd probably expect a Wi-fi-only model.. my thinking is, if I was away from home with it and wanted a mobile data connection, I could just tether my SGS2?
I'd like to be able to hook up to a TV via HDMI to play films - is that quite a regular feature of these devices, or would I need to look carefully for one with HDMI out? Is mini-HDMI just a small connector / converter lead?
I guess what is confusing me right now is the quite wide range of prices I'm seeing.. some tablets are around the £100 mark or even less (think I saw a Hanspree the other day), while many are up at £300+. Does that reflect the next gen hardware, i.e. Ghz-and-up and dual cores?
TIA,
JJ
Dude, Not a exactly match for the price range, but I suggest you the Dropad A8. Multitouch capacitive, It is fast, has mini hdmi output, usb host (where you can plug a 3g modem, gps or rj45 adapter). It is able to play every movie (rmvb even) and game I put on it
Hey guys,
I am a bit intrigued at the new Google TV 2.0 Honeycomb release soon. I don't have Google TV but was looking into it recently with these announcements. My main question is, would adding a Logitech Revue for $100 be worth it? And furthermore, would having the TF add in the experience or could I just do everything I can now with the TF and not Google TV? Hopefully this makes sense!
I don't watch a lot of youtube
I technically have a Netflix acct.
I would like to cut the chord to cable, but I need my espn and Phillies on comcast!!! (I have Fios)
Hopefully this makes sense. I was thinking the TF could maybe control Google TV down the road with some app development, or possible wireless connectivity with the Logitech so I could run some things through the TF and into the TV without hooking the HDMI cable up and having the tablet sitting under my TV and not on my lap?
Thanks for the suggestions and any tips or hints!
there are controllers in the marketplace, IIRC they work over wifi but could be wrong.
I'm also interested in a revue WHEN they actually get the update. It's hard for me to cut the cable cord, but very close to it when they charge close to $70/mo for basic cable, and have forced me to use digital boxes on every tv set. (they used to broadcast "analog" HD on say the x.1 channels, but even that's gone).
AFAIK Google TV is just a special HDTV that has Android and Internet oriented video stuff for it, like YouTube. It's been recently announced to be getting accesss to the Android Market soon if memory serves.
Personally, if you already have a TF and an HDTV I would just use an HDMI/MiniHDMI cable. At least here, the only value I can see would be if I wanted an HDTV; XFinity and a 22" monitor does fine.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
First off, Google TV is a very different experience from Android on a tablet. It's a non-touch, large screen, 10-foot interface. The same experience cannot be seen by just plugging your Transformer into the HDMI jack.
From a chord cutting standpoint, it may serve that purpose for you depending on how you want to use it, but it's primary design is to sit between your TV and cable box (at least for the Revue, and the Sony devices are similar). This adds a good amount of searchability to your channels, as well as being able to aggregate and sort currently playing movies. The Netflix and YouTube apps are also an obvious boon for this platform. Pandora likewise, but to a lesser degree.
What is really interesting is the communication you can have between your phone or tablet and the GTV device. The full remote is available as an app, and it works great (plus it's open source). In the future I could see this as a potential gaming platform (imagine playing Texas Hold'em where the table is on your TV and your hand is on your phone), but until there is major developer support expect it to primarily be good for media consumption and light internet browsing. It remains to be seen how much devs pick up the platform, but as a current user and dev I hope it goes a long way.
I haven't had cable for over three years, even so I bit the bullet when the Logitech Revue was $300 (I should have waited a little longer) to check it out. I love my Revue now and can't wait until the update.
As it is now, there isn't much integration with the Transformer (or any tablet) with GTV. But since it will be running Android 3.0 and have the Market, more and more will be developed for it. Like another poster mentioned, there is a wifi GTV controller on the Market now.
Thanks for all of the comments.
I certainly understand what GTV does I was just curious as to your experiences and if at all you have integrated your TF into the mix. Hopefully in a little while the devs will get into this platform and really make it shine.
The remote apps look cool too. Seems like they have some extra additions over the keyboard of the revue?
What would really be nice is to wirelessly stream videos/photos to your tv from the TF and or phone.
npompei said:
Thanks for all of the comments.
I certainly understand what GTV does I was just curious as to your experiences and if at all you have integrated your TF into the mix. Hopefully in a little while the devs will get into this platform and really make it shine.
The remote apps look cool too. Seems like they have some extra additions over the keyboard of the revue?
What would really be nice is to wirelessly stream videos/photos to your tv from the TF and or phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure that wouldn't be hard to get done, if it isn't already (or at least being worked on). Since it is running honeycomb and you can get GTV for $100 now, I think after the update hits we'll see a lot of developers working on GTV stuff.
Logitech Revue GTV was my very first Android device (in a household of 10 android devices). I love it. I don't know if the reviewers actually spent enough time using it in their own living room. I bought it used and the original owner already updated it, so the root backdoor was close. It would be much better with the update. I chose it over Roku and the other devices. Though once in a while I do comparisons of features, I'm still happy with my decision. The family can use it easily too.
My DVD and TV have Netflix too, but the GTV Netflix app is tons better. My worst gripe with GTV is the TV schedule/playing-now interface, which could be done differently for better usability.
There is a few controller apps on the market. I don't really use them because the BT keyboard and my Harmony remote work fine for that purpose.
There is logitech harmony remote on the market that integrates into the revue nicely. I have it on my phone and tf.
It also acts as a remote for my cable and stereo. And it is free.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium
if google could sign a contract with someone and get ESPN, local channels, FX, TBS and the more common channels to stream live, i would sign up with google TV in a heartbeat and dump fios.
tekkitan said:
I'm sure that wouldn't be hard to get done, if it isn't already (or at least being worked on). Since it is running honeycomb and you can get GTV for $100 now, I think after the update hits we'll see a lot of developers working on GTV stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as AirPlay like functionality, it's harder than you'd think. There is a protocol for direct IP to IP communication between the devices, but as far as streaming media from one device to the other it's a bit tricky. DLNA is currently the best choice, but it's a bit tricky to set up. What would be nice is if you could use an Intent to share to the Remote app from Gallery or someplace, and then have the Remote app set up the DLNA connection for you, but it would be fairly involved on both ends.
jblah said:
if google could sign a contract with someone and get ESPN, local channels, FX, TBS and the more common channels to stream live, i would sign up with google TV in a heartbeat and dump fios.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GTV isn't a replacement for cable/satellite, so your post is really meaningless. GTV isn't subscription based, it is a one time fee to buy the hardware.
---------- Post added at 01:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:33 AM ----------
keyboardr said:
As far as AirPlay like functionality, it's harder than you'd think. There is a protocol for direct IP to IP communication between the devices, but as far as streaming media from one device to the other it's a bit tricky. DLNA is currently the best choice, but it's a bit tricky to set up. What would be nice is if you could use an Intent to share to the Remote app from Gallery or someplace, and then have the Remote app set up the DLNA connection for you, but it would be fairly involved on both ends.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it'd be as difficult as you're making it out to be. Obviously difficult enough that I couldn't develop such a thing, but there are people with experience in this type of stuff that would be able to figure it out
tekkitan said:
GTV isn't a replacement for cable/satellite, so your post is really meaningless. GTV isn't subscription based, it is a one time fee to buy the hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i know what GTV is. Hence why I was saying that IF were able to sign some contracts with ESPN and others to do a live stream of the channels, i would dump cable and pay to go to GTV. It would be a way google could make $ and provide an awesome service to standard cable which now is dominated by comcast and fios.
jblah said:
if google could sign a contract with someone and get ESPN, local channels, FX, TBS and the more common channels to stream live, i would sign up with google TV in a heartbeat and dump fios.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google has its own channels/programs being cooked up for YouTube.
jblah said:
i know what GTV is. Hence why I was saying that IF were able to sign some contracts with ESPN and others to do a live stream of the channels, i would dump cable and pay to go to GTV. It would be a way google could make $ and provide an awesome service to standard cable which now is dominated by comcast and fios.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but that makes no sense. those networks would charge money, so google would have to charge us monthly. it's two completely different products which is why your post makes zero sense.
also you left out a few cable companies. Time Warner (really big one), Cox (not as big but still serves many markets), AT&T U-Verse
tekkitan said:
but that makes no sense. those networks would charge money, so google would have to charge us monthly. it's two completely different products which is why your post makes zero sense.
also you left out a few cable companies. Time Warner (really big one), Cox (not as big but still serves many markets), AT&T U-Verse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It makes perfect sense... add premium content. Give me what I want, and make it cheaper than the cable company, and I'm IN.
$70/mo for basic cable here. I'm about to cut the cord regardless.
keyboardr said:
First off, Google TV is a very different experience from Android on a tablet. It's a non-touch, large screen, 10-foot interface. The same experience cannot be seen by just plugging your Transformer into the HDMI jack.
From a chord cutting standpoint, it may serve that purpose for you depending on how you want to use it, but it's primary design is to sit between your TV and cable box (at least for the Revue, and the Sony devices are similar). This adds a good amount of searchability to your channels, as well as being able to aggregate and sort currently playing movies. The Netflix and YouTube apps are also an obvious boon for this platform. Pandora likewise, but to a lesser degree.
What is really interesting is the communication you can have between your phone or tablet and the GTV device. The full remote is available as an app, and it works great (plus it's open source). In the future I could see this as a potential gaming platform (imagine playing Texas Hold'em where the table is on your TV and your hand is on your phone), but until there is major developer support expect it to primarily be good for media consumption and light internet browsing. It remains to be seen how much devs pick up the platform, but as a current user and dev I hope it goes a long way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a modified version of the app that i posted for free over at gtvhacker if interested. works fine on tf portrait and landscape.
http://forum.gtvhacker.com/apps-and-suggestions/topic146.html
syntrix said:
It makes perfect sense... add premium content. Give me what I want, and make it cheaper than the cable company, and I'm IN.
$70/mo for basic cable here. I'm about to cut the cord regardless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But that isn't the purpose of Google TV. So no, it makes ZERO sense. Again, stop trying to turn Google TV into something it probably never will be. Cut the cord to cable, you don't need it. Just about everything you watch on TV is available on the internet. I haven't had cable for over three years.
tekkitan said:
But that isn't the purpose of Google TV. So no, it makes ZERO sense. Again, stop trying to turn Google TV into something it probably never will be. Cut the cord to cable, you don't need it. Just about everything you watch on TV is available on the internet. I haven't had cable for over three years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Legally? in HD? me thinks you exagerate ;-)
A lot of crap that people watch is. If you're more interested in movies that are not so recent, it is more challenging. If you have e.g. XFinity or are willing to pay a bit, plenty of stuff can be had.
The only reason I would have to pay the cable company, they give like 3 or 6 times the speed I could get using my phone as a modem.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
My daugther has a popcorn hour a-110 and i have created the jukeboxefunction on it, but beside that files stops working or shortcuts and that is kinda slow i want the ability for here to self pick what movie she wants to see, its importent that it is jukebox function cause she is to young to read.
I bought the archos it 101 and i seem to be one of not so many that it runs really slow even after custom room and oc etc so i have given up on that pieace of crap.
But i have read that they can suffer from the ability to read all kind of files, lack of jukebox function and ability to run 1080p
im not gonna run 1080p movies but i want it to have the power for it, its mainly dvd rips etc, im not gonna run thos file types that include 1080p with 3d, 7.1 surround and whatever it needs, not even i run that kind of files.
But i need jukebox function and ofcourse its good if i get the best tablet for the price, even if i dont use all functions i still want to do a good deal....
I have looked into differens tablets and now im looking into acer iconia a500 cause its on auction for 2000SEK, little under 300$, and the auction runs out in around 2 hours and i forgat to ask here before
edit: im gonna use external 2tb 3.5" drives for the movies and HDMI output, some have full HDMI but this ones hasnt, but it isnt the end of the world.
edit or the galaxy tab 10.1, found one that is for sell and ens tomorrow its on the same price but i dunno how much higher it will end on, downside is that i need the dock station to use HDMI but that is on the package and the keybord to.
I know bumping isnt allowed but because its not so much more then 1 hour left on the acution for a500 i just wanna try getting answers.
the first official android tv player has been announced. Interesting specs. Anyone thinking of getting one?
http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/15/6982375/google-nexus-player-android-tv-set-top-box-announced
http://www.google.com/nexus/player/
Sent from my Sony Tablet S using XDA Free mobile app
the concept is interesting, but the spec is not
99$? Insta-buy! Just waiting for the pre-order in Germany
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk 2
I have an ADT-1 and thoroughly love it. By far, the best XBMC experience you could ask for, but the device holistically is pretty damn cool too. Going to be ordering 2 of these as well.
what does this have to do with the Nexus 5 section? not wanting to be a forum-nazi, but it's pretty useless in this section.
There is no dedicated android TV forum
Edit found it now. Thread has been moved. Thanks moderator
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Really cool idea and I'd buy one if I didn't already have a Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Chromecast, a Slimport cable, and a PS3 controller. With all that, the possibilities are vast. If playing a game, I'll use my N5, hook it up to the TV via Slimport, and use my PS3 controller. If watching a show, I'll just cast my screen via Chromecast, with the option of using the Slimport cable.
So since the controller is Bluetooth Smart, I can sync it with my phone and tablet, right? Typical Bluetooth syncing process? A spare controller might be a nice little plus to convince me to buy a (another) little gadget device. Like I said, it's a neat idea but I definitely don't need it.
Quite interesting that it's using a Intel processor. Wonder how that will perform. Also any micro SD slot?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
jumper62 said:
Quite interesting that it's using a Intel processor. Wonder how that will perform. Also any micro SD slot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there's a similar question i got:
does it have a usb host port?
As the specs don't mention one (like the sd-slot) i guess there won't be one, what makes sense if you think about their interest in people streaming stuff from google play...
Amazon blocks usb mass storage and google doesn't even add a port, what also makes usb gamecontrollers unusable...
I'll most likely buy one at some point to replace my Roku, but one of the important apps to me is the WWE Network app, and I highly doubt WWE will care enough about their app to update for compatibility with Android TV any time soon. So, I'll have to hold out until they support Android TV.
There is a mini usb port. External storage?
Sigh. Google, y u hate Ethernet?
Another stationary device that eats up wifi bandwidth to save on a 50 cent Gig-E port. Its just plain dumb.
Is there any official information about European availability?
Does it support HDMI-CEC?
I'll get one to replace the Chromecast in our living room. Will be really nice to have a remote to, for example, pause if I get a call. Try to do that on your phone while casting something..
If it hasn't got HDMI-CEC.. that would just be stupid. Hope it has.
Doesn't bother me that it hasn't got wired Ethernet. My WiFi is excellent and I can easily get +600Mbps real performance on my laptop and +250Mbps on my Nexus 5 so the AC-chip on this will do for all my streaming needs and then some.
Any information yet which formats are supported? Is it like chromecast limited to h264 and aac or can it play mkv files with dvd MPEG streams? (how I store my DVD library currently in plex)
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Konstigt said:
I'll get one to replace the Chromecast in our living room. Will be really nice to have a remote to, for example, pause if I get a call. Try to do that on your phone while casting something..
If it hasn't got HDMI-CEC.. that would just be stupid. Hope it has.
Doesn't bother me that it hasn't got wired Ethernet. My WiFi is excellent and I can easily get +600Mbps real performance on my laptop and +250Mbps on my Nexus 5 so the AC-chip on this will do for all my streaming needs and then some.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My problem is that I don't live by myself, and we live in a relatively high density area (~3k to ~4k sq ft houses on 60 ft lots). We have three tablets, two ipod touches, two smartphones, occasionally a laptop or two. I have really good wifi coverage (using ubiquiti APs). But my next door neighbors media room is really close to our master bedroom suite and she uses wireless for everything (which is ridiculous...my old company wired her house...I know she has a lan drop in her media room, lol). So she constantly pegs 1 and 11 in 2.4 GHz. So I use 6 on that side of the house. But I can see at least 4 other APs from my neighbors on 6, and that's just those that broadcast. Our phones are are the only two AC devices we currently have.
It would probably be OK on AC. I have one AC AP and my family room cabinets where my equipment is in is only about 20 feet from the AP through wood cabinet doors. But add in a cheapo GigE port and there is nothing to worry about at all. Again, its a stationary device, no reason to use wifi. I think the issue is that these devices are developed by people who live in rented apartments or in parts of the world where adding a lan drop in a home is cost prohibitive (concrete walls, etc.). It never occurs to them that a huge portion of their target audience has a wired lan in their home.
mrw1215 said:
I'll most likely buy one at some point to replace my Roku, but one of the important apps to me is the WWE Network app, and I highly doubt WWE will care enough about their app to update for compatibility with Android TV any time soon. So, I'll have to hold out until they support Android TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would not be supprised, WWE app has been on Fire TV for a while. It should not take much, if any, reconfiguring to add it to the play store for the player.
Just heard about this. Interesting indeed. I am in the UK and have got an Amazon Fire TV on preorder (released 23rd Oct) not sure whether to ditch that pre-order and go for this or keep the AFTV.
No ethernet is a bummer, but I'm still looking forward to it
need to find the perfect Plex box
I'm going to be pre-ordering one tomorrow as soon as they become available for pre-order... If I'm still awake by midnight, might do it then.
The lack of Ethernet port is truly a bummer, but I guess I will try to get another device off my Wi-Fi lol