Finally, an Android tablet worth seriously considering

[rockymtnhigh]

Wow Leo actually had something nice to say about something that doesn’t have a shiny fruit on the back of it and is a direct competitor to something his beloved Apple offers? Get outta here!



Don, I use screen protectors to protect against fine micro scratches. When I had the 8GB iPhone 3G I just used a case and in less than a month’s time I had tons of fine micro scratches all over the place, and I wasn't hard on it at all. Got that way just from normal use. Before my 30 days was up I realized 8GB probably wasn't enough so I upgraded to the 16GB iPhone 3G and paid the $100 price differential. I had a second chance at life as I got a brand new phone again and immediately put on a screen protector. When I got the Evo I got a screen protector as well and put it on right away. My buddy who has the Evo too doesn’t believe in screen protectors has micro scratches all over his screen from normal use. My Evo actually took a nasty spill in my work truck and the protector was punctured, but not the screen. Thank God I had one! I replaced it and was good as new. The screen protectors I got cost $12 for two normal ones (can’t even tell they’re on) and an antiglare one, not bad at all. Especially considering I paid TWICE that for just ONE screen protector when I had the iPhone.

Every phone I have had for the past two years has had a Zagg Invisible Shield on it; I do not even know they are there. There is NO UI lag like Foxbat reported; it minimizes finger prints, and has eliminated any concerns of scratches at all. I swear by the Zagg.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Been playing with the tab since about ten am. Had to let it charge first. Holding it one hand is easy as can be. And swype works great. Only glitch so far is connecting to the pc. Apparently samsung has had problems with this on several devices.

In the default mode the small keyboard is fine. Left hand finger swypes, and right hand holds it. This entire post was done on the tab.

For a DOA seven inch screen, its been a lot of fun.

EDIT: Downloaded a Samsung 64-bit driver for mobile phones and problem solved. You would think these would not be issues. Guess the Tab is not magical.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Verizon made it so that you could not tether from another Droid to the Tab, but I found a fix. Had to download a file from XDA, and replace it in the system/bin folder; and within minutes I was tethering. Of course it took me 45 minutes to an hour to figure out what the initial problem was. For the life of me I could not figure out why the Tab could not see the SSID that the Droid X was transmitting. Of course the fix only worked by being rooted, as I needed to change a system file.

Dang, it has been a fun day today!

 

[TheForce]

Steve and Mike- Ref screen protectors- I may try one on the ipad because I do have to hold it at the right angle to prevent glare on darker screens apps from a ceiling light. But for finger prints and scratches, that hasn't been a problem with my experience. One question- Are the protectors easy to remove if I don't like it?

Mike- I didn't understand the reference to needing a 64 bit driver. Was the Galaxy not compatible with 64 bit OS on your desktop? Are you left handed?

I take it you will be using your Galaxy with tethering to your phone like I do with the ipad. Did you ever answer my question weeks ago about Droid Tethering app? I asked , Does it heat up your phone and rapidly deplete your battery when turning on tethering?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Steve and Mike- Ref screen protectors- I may try one on the ipad because I do have to hold it at the right angle to prevent glare on darker screens apps from a ceiling light. But for finger prints and scratches, that hasn't been a problem with my experience. One question- Are the protectors easy to remove if I don't like it?

Mike- I didn't understand the reference to needing a 64 bit driver. Was the Galaxy not compatible with 64 bit OS on your desktop? Are you left handed?

I take it you will be using your Galaxy with tethering to your phone like I do with the ipad. Did you ever answer my question weeks ago about Droid Tethering app? I asked , Does it heat up your phone and rapidly deplete your battery when turning on tethering?

The zagg can come off easily enough. It takes about a couple of hours to work out the bubbles, by the second day it feels like a natural skin. But I have been using Zagg skins on several devices (Omnia, Droid 1, ipod touch, Droid X) so it feels totally natural to me. And it really does protect the screen from scratches, and in my experience, minimizes finger prints. I have oily fingers.

Regarding the driver, when I tried to mount it to windows 7 it would not see the sd card. Once I installed samsung's 64 bit drivers it worked. This was never a problem with OG Droid or Droid X. The motorola drivers just worked with Windows. Apparently Samsung has a program called "Kies" which is similar to Motorola's RSD Lite, which is a way to flash a device; but I have not even tried to find it.

Tethering can cause the phone to heat up. Indeed the tethering app has a temperature gauge. I also have a temp sensor to underclock above a set temp. But I have found that for light tethering, its not a problem.

And yes I am left handed. Left index finger does the swyping, right hand holds the tab.

 

[TheForce]

I was hoping for a cool as ice report on Android Tethering but I guess no go. Really glad I got the new 5Spot from Verizon. It, being designed for tethering, runs cold to slightly warm and can tether 5 ip's at a time. The only problem is with speed. It doesn't have enough speed for sling HD and the sling adapter tends to buffer all the time. The sales guy at Verizon said when LTE device comes out they will have an upgrade program so don't worry. So I have my cell phone tethering when not with my wife who will keep the 5Spot with her ipad and then when we're together I'll just switch to using 5Spot.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I was hoping for a cool as ice report on Android Tethering but I guess no go. Really glad I got the new 5Spot from Verizon. It, being designed for tethering, runs cold to slightly warm and can tether 5 ip's at a time. The only problem is with speed. It doesn't have enough speed for sling HD and the sling adapter tends to buffer all the time. The sales guy at Verizon said when LTE device comes out they will have an upgrade program so don't worry. So I have my cell phone tethering when not with my wife who will keep the 5Spot with her ipad and then when we're together I'll just switch to using 5Spot.

I have been tethered to my tab for about 40 minutes and it has not heated up at all. Working like a charm. And the droid is in my pocket.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

By the way, when I was at the Verizon store I asked about the data plans, and the guy said the cheapest thing to do is use the mobile 3g hotspot and tether from the droid x. I laughed inside knowing I can do that for free.

Apparently a two gig plan for the tab is $35. Pass. And one gig is $20.

 

[TheForce]

Their plans are all over the price place. I got my 5Spot for free with the ipad purchase and the plan was $25 per month for 3Gb with a $10 per Gig overrun.

But just so you know, I have not had any good luck with Verizon 3G on sling HD adapter. The 5spot and my tethering to my htc TP2 is best used for surfing the net and e-mail. Do you have Sling and is so how is it working on your Droid or Galaxy? PS Netflix actually works much better than Sling using the tetherings.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Their plans are all over the price place. I got my 5Spot for free with the ipad purchase and the plan was $25 per month for 3Gb with a $10 per Gig overrun.

But just so you know, I have not had any good luck with Verizon 3G on sling HD adapter. The 5spot and my tethering to my htc TP2 is best used for surfing the net and e-mail. Do you have Sling and is so how is it working on your Droid or Galaxy? PS Netflix actually works much better than Sling using the tetherings.

The sling player for Android works on the Droid, but it does not seem to be a HD player -- since it was designed for phones and not the tablet, its PQ is acceptable but not great. Given the smaller screen on the Droid X it is a little better, but I don't use it much.

I am going to Chicago tomorrow, and will have the Tab and the Droid X; no computer with me. Looking forward to using it as a test. I'll tether when I need to, but should be able to get wifi in the hotel. I doubt I'll be carrying the Tab with me around town; the Droid X is good enough for that stuff.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I plan to write my full review of the Tab after the trip later this week. Want to give it a few days to really make my judgment about it. It is not a perfect device, but so far, I am pretty pleased.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Don, I have been tethered for more than an hour on a moving train and the droid x is at 32 degrees c.

I am on ac though. The DX is better than the original droid at that.

I love this tab. Super light and powerful. Listening to the Beetles while browsing, reading a little, and some soduku.

 

[TheForce]

Good deal! As you may know, I'm collecting curiosity on the Androids for later in the summer when I will be ready for a free upgrade from my htc tp2. Over heating in tether mode has been an issue with me, even when plugged into the charger while tethering.

 

[John Kotches]

Personally, I think the dual-core tegra 2 android tablets will be the bees knees...

Load cyanogen mod and swype and you'll have a rocking good setup!

In a few years, tablets / cells will be the main systems for all but the super high-end power users.

With an hdmi output to a monitor, bluetooth keyboard and mouse it's an awesome solution.

Swyped on my PC36100 using tapatalk!

 

[John Kotches]

Don:

Speech recognition continues to evolve, but imo it's still a few years away (or longer) for it'll be close to a keyboard replacement that's viable.

Don't know what someone like me with a specialized vocabulary (computer geeks have tons of stuff outside of the dictionary) that it will take time to replace.



Swyped on my PC36100 using tapatalk!

 

[John Kotches]

the carriers are loving the devices that are designed as media consumers.... it lets them immediately fence in the devices on a limited plan. That's why my tablet (when I get one) will be wifi only.

Wish I was going to CES to soak up some of the tablet-y goodness that will be there!

Swyped on my PC36100 using tapatalk!

 

[TheForce]

Don:

Speech recognition continues to evolve, but imo it's still a few years away (or longer) for it'll be close to a keyboard replacement that's viable.

Don't know what someone like me with a specialized vocabulary (computer geeks have tons of stuff outside of the dictionary) that it will take time to replace.

Swyped on my PC36100 using tapatalk!

What I like about iPad (assume Galaxy works the same) is when in the satellite guys app or any app and I read a word that I don't know, I can select it and access the definition. Or a link takes me to that web page immediately, check it out, and quickly return much faster than a desk top or laptop. In many ways, using the iPad is a better consumption device. e.g. I didn't know what a PC36100 is so I selected it and copied it to my dictionary book which obviously wasn't listed so it sent the word PC36100 to google and quickly found the web page http://www.htcphones.net/tag/htc-pc36100/ All within a couple seconds. It's stuff like this that people who don't use iPad or any of the new smart tablets, just don't understand. Most of them are stuck on Kindle or laptop substitute mindset.

 

[John Kotches]

Don:

I can do the same on my android phone.

I also like that I can look up a business and either navigate or call the business as the software parses the info out.

I don't like how rigid apples control is over Iphone/ipad. I understand it, but don't like it.

I like the ease with which I can run alternative ROMs, and run one right now.



Swyped on my PC36100 using tapatalk!

 

[John Kotches]

With respect to tethering, I had my phone tethering about a week after I got it by rooting my phone and using the OS builtin hot spot.

I've never looked back since then.

Swyped on my PC36100 using tapatalk!

 

[rockymtnhigh]

For the life of me I can not get the tab to connect to the hotel wifi. It sees it, it connects but nobody is home. I have connected to other wifi hotspots that required web authentication with the tab but this one just won't work. I tried with the droid x and it works. No idea what is up.

So I have been tethering a lot. I figure most of the time I am using the same sites I would if, I were to use the phone.