[ale] need tablet buying advice, bought nook, liked it, returned it

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

On 4/4/2012 3:18 PM, Scott Castaline wrote:
> On 04/03/2012 05:58 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
>    
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I'm back on the tablet hunt again.  I bought a Nook yesterday, used
>> the SD card trick to put CM7 on it without affecting the original
>> system, really liked it, then returned it.  BN works so hard at
>> foiling anyone trying to run something else, it's a major pain.  I
>> got CM7 to boot, then shut down the tablet.  Rebooted into BN,
>> since I wanted to be able to flip back and forth, and then tried to
>> boot CM7 again.  I never got it running again.  I reflashed the SD
>> card and tried again.  Again, I got CM7 to boot only once.  The BN
>> software was 1.4.1 I think.  Anyway, while I really like the
>> tablet, I just don't want to be fighting the big corp all the time
>> to keep my alt version of the software running.  So, I'm back in
>> the market and, if you all have experience with such things, I'd
>> like some advice.
>>
>> I'd like to get the following minimum features.  The Nook didn't
>> have some of these, but I wanted the ability to read BN books in
>> the BN store.  I realize I won't be able to do that with another
>> tablet.
>>
>> 7" or 10" screen (10" is probably not possible in my price range.)
>> capacitive touch screen Android 3.2 or 4.x, or at least upgradable
>> to 4.x. 1 GHz processor, preferably dual core 1 GB ram 16 GB flash
>> sd or micro sd card slot front and back cameras microphone
>> headphone jack hdmi output usb port (full USB functionality is
>> preferable) access to full android market and google apps
>> accelerometer wifi b/g Thin is good.  The nook is .48" and feels
>> good in your hand.
>>
>> The following features would be nice to have but not critical.
>>
>> haptic feedback wifi b/g/n gps gyroscope ? (I saw this on a spec
>> sheet somewhere.  Is that different from an accelerometer?  If so,
>> what's it for?)
>>
>> I'd like to keep the price of the tablet itself under $ 320.
>>
>> I haven't studied all the specs yet on these, but my current
>> candidates are:
>>
>> Acer Iconia 7 - Best Buy - $ 259 (or was it $ 269) Samsung Galaxy
>> Tab 7 - Best Buy $ 300 (currently, normally $ 350)
>>
>> By the way, Best Buy now has 30 day returns, 30 day price match,
>> and 30 days of tech support by phone.
>>
>> I'm sure there are other tablets which meet this criteria.  I'd
>> appreciate your thoughts on this.  I don't want to root anything or
>>   fight the designers to make it run.  The tablet has to run
>> Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich natively.  I could go slightly
>> higher in price, but I want to also have some money for a case,
>> android book, etc.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Ron
>>
>>
>>      
> I had done the same going the external route with the SD chip, but was
> sort of restricted to using it when the significant other is not home
> as the Nook is hers. Well I have been successful in being able to cold
> boot Android multiple times. My only issue is that it seems more
> geared up for phone than tablet. Is there a way to remove the phone
> stuff as klutzy me tends to hit the spots for phone use and of course
> it seems to be laughing at me that I don't have a phone. Also I have
> noticed that I lose my WiFi when I wake it up from it's nap, and then
> later it works. At best I would say WiFi is a bit flaky.

Hi Scott,

I don't know about the phone features.  I think Michael T. and Michael 
W. use Cyanogenmod.  Maybe they can tell you how to deal with those 
functions.  You can delete items from the home screens by tapping and 
holding an icon until a menu appears, then tap the delete icon or 
continue holding the original icon and drag it to the trash can at the top.

I'm making some progress narrowing my selection of tablets by the 
process of elimination.  If you don't know exactly what you want, 
sometimes it helps to know what you don't like or can't do without.  
Reading the spec sheets can be quite confusing and tedious.  Here's some 
of what I've learned.  I'm eliminating the tablets from consideration 
with the following features.

eliminate - tablets without 2 or more CPU cores - I think good CPU's 
include but are not limited to: Tegra 2, Rockchip RK30, TI Omap 4.
eliminate - tablets with less than 1 GHz CPU frequency
eliminate - tablets with less than 1 GB RAM
eliminate - tablets with less than 8 GB Flash Memory
eliminate - tablets with no front camera - I figure I'm more likely to 
video chat than use a tablet for photography.
eliminate - tablets with screen size less than 1024 x 600 if a 7" screen
eliminate - tablets with less than 6 hr battery life playing video - 
Goodbye Acer Iconia A100.
eliminate - tablets with less than Android 3.2 (Honeycomb)
eliminate - tablets without a capacitive touch screen
eliminate - tablets without an SD card slot (32 GB capacity)
eliminate - tablets without auto screen rotation - This means they have 
a "G Sensor".
eliminate - tablets without speakers (if there are any such tablets)
eliminate - tablets without a microphone
eliminate - tablets without Bluetooth
eliminate - tablets without HDMI output - Goodbye Acer Iconia A100 and A200.
eliminate - tablets with funky proprietary large connectors instead of 
multiple small individual standardized connectors - Goodbye Samsung 
Galaxy Tab.
eliminate - tablets that cannot play 1080p video smoothly
eliminate - tablets with a price over $ 400

Apparently, the "G sensor" could be an accelerometer or a gyroscope.  As 
I understand it, the accelerometer senses MOTION, or more accurately, 
change in motion in one direction.  A gyroscope can sense position, 
whether motion is involved or not I think.  Some tablets have both.

If the unit has a proprietary connector, you have to buy expensive 
custom cables and adapters to attach anything to the unit.

In terms of price, I'd really rather it be $ 300 or less, because I'm 
not sure that the functionality a tablet provides, above that of a 
laptop, is worth $ 400 to me.  I may even consider an Android netbook if 
I can find one.

I'm pretty sure about the above criteria.  Here are some others I'm not 
so sure about yet.

potentially eliminate - tablets without a full USB port, to attach a 
keyboard to, for example
potentially eliminate - tablets without IPS screens, which have wider 
viewing angles
potentially eliminate - tablets which can't or won't be upgraded to 
Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
potentially eliminate - tablets without gps - I'd usually have it off, 
but if you need it, it's nice.
potentially eliminate - tablets without haptic feedback - Gives nice 
confirmation when pressing on screen buttons.
potentially eliminate - tablets without wifi N in addition to B and G
potentially eliminate - tablets without a flash if there is a rear 
facing camera
potentially eliminate - tablets without an IR tranciever - for intra 
device comm and using tablet as a remote control

As you can imagine, that narrows the field quite a bit.  So far, I 
haven't found what I want to buy.  There should be some more really neat 
ones coming out this year.  I've found engadget and cnet reviews quite 
helpful in looking at these.  Of course, there are many other sources of 
reviews.

Sincerely,

Ron


-- 

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Ron Frazier

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