[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 hadn't noticed the wifi problem, but I didn't test it much.  The 
following is a quote from the CNet review of the Asus epad transformer.  
I think you'll find much less phone centric stuff if and when you get 
the chance to upgrade to honeycomb (Android 3).

quote on -->

With the introduction of Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb), Google is showing 
its commitment to tablets. With the exception of legacy support for 
existing Android apps, Honeycomb is a dramatic departure from the 
Android of smartphones.

<-- quote off

Sincerely,

Ron


-- 

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier

770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com