[Closed] Recommend me an Android Tablet

I've ordered one too.

Cougar - Member
My current phone is qHD (960×540). That means it's actually a 'bigger' screen than the Arnova 7(*) and not all that far off the 10's 1024x600. Tell me again why I need a tablet?

If by "bigger", you actually mean smaller, then yes, you are correct.

aracer - Member
The other question of course is how important all those features you mention really are - I'm struggling to see how I'm losing out significantly having a proper usable keyboard (and decent touchpad) compared to a touchscreen when I want to type stuff. Why an IPS display and something I can hold in one hand are better for viewing the screen than something with a hinge in the middle I can get a good viewing angle without having to hold it*. Can't say I ever have a problem with my 4 hour battery life (you can get netbooks with 10 - I compromised for more power), and wonder how often typical tablet users need that much**. Oh, and I have GPS (and 3G, something a lot of tablets appear to lack!) Trying to help you out and remember the last time I had to fanny about with virus scanners, updates etc., but struggling, as once I'd got it set up it just works***.

*cos it's smaller and easier to hold.

**due to that they are easier to travel with - where battery life may be a factor

*** so do tablets.

mine's languishing in a Kidderminster warehouse 🙁

Well, I played with mine until well into the night (and my Arnova tablet - fnar.) and I like it. It's responsive and easy to navigate, funnily enough I found the most 'laggy' thing was viewing this site on it, but I think the STW pages are quite heavy in terms of content and it was by no means difficult to use.

Sound quality when playing from the SD card is good (through amp and speakers), the wi-fi streaming app that's available works from my NAS drive although the SQ then is really quite poor.

The down side is that it only comes with Applib, not the full Andriod Marketplace and I'm not sure that there is a work-round for this just yet (it's too new by the looks of things). So no Spotify or other quite useful apps as they're not approved on Applib. I'm sure this will be resolved soon (if not by someone on here telling me how to get it....please?)

Just bought the 7" G2 at lunchtime. Currently using my Galaxy S2 as a WIFI hotspot and I'm browsing on the Arnova.

Very slick and no noticeable difference from being connected via wifi on the Galaxy. Video playback is good too based on the built in demo video. The UI feels familiar due to my experience with the Galaxy.

Overall, very impressed so far based on an hour of playing. For £120 it's excellent VFM

good to hear bob/blob.

This might work BTW
http://www.arctablet.com/blog/archos-tablet/android-market-3-0-26-archos-gen8-devices/

If by "bigger", you actually mean smaller, then yes, you are correct.

Clearly 960×540 pixels is a bigger screen than 800 x 480 pixels.

*cos it's smaller and easier to hold.

**due to that they are easier to travel with - where battery life may be a factor

*** so do tablets

aracer - to spoil your fun I am a netbook devotee (I own two of them) but there is a place in my life for a 7" pad - think of it more as a rich media machine. Ipod+++. I want one for browsing, ebooks, podcasts, videos and choons. I can do all that on my netbook, but sometimes I dont want to carry it around, and just want something that I can put in a pocket knowing its sync'd and full of easy to consume content for the train journey/morning shit.

Anyone found a decent case/ protector for the 7" G2?

kiddin? my G2 hasnt even arrived yet and Im the one that recommended it!!! And you two come wandering in here lah-dee-dahing about how good it is.

Its worse than the football spoilers!

bstards.
😉

Yes, but how many people actually need 10 hours? That's a long commute

long haul flights, coaches that drive to the ski resorts (skiweekends, snowcoach, skimeribel).

I am a netbook devotee (I own two of them) but there is a place in my life for a 7" pad - think of it more as a rich media machine.

I probably should mention in passing that what I'm using is only really a netbook in form factor - far more powerful and better keyboard than any 10" Atom thingy.

and I think al agrees there too. 7" is the right size for media IMO. 10" is just a pain, and one might as well have a netbook instead.

*tags new epic-battle-warrior-legend team-mate stoner*

*jumps in the ring with Big Daddy to take on Giant Haystacks*

I probably should mention in passing that what I'm using is only really a netbook in form factor - far more powerful and better keyboard than any 10" Atom thingy.

What's that, out of interest?

For those with the G2, maybe I'm being dim, but I can't see anyway to lock it with either a password or swipe setup 😕

Lenovo X100e - 11" screen, dual core AMD processor (a bit power hungry, hence the not so good battery life), properish ATI Radeon graphics, pro standard keyboard.

Soooooo, what's reading PDF mags like on the G2??? this is why I need a tablet. Kindle is rubbish for it, iPhone does my nut as I have to pinch and zoom all the time.

Hmm, I've spent the evening preparing and videoing an ipad hacking demo. I borrowed one of the ipads from work having not used one for a little while.

IT'S NOT AS NICE AS MY VEGA.

05/10/2011 08:45:00 KIDDERMINSTER VAN The parcel has been loaded on to the drivers van

arrggghhh, it's taking for ever to turn up 🙁

Hehe, I only ordered mine yesterday morning

Date Depot Action Reason
04/10/2011 21:33:00 DROITWICH The parcel has been sorted at our hub
05/10/2011 08:48:00 EDINBURGH DEPOT The parcel has been received into depot
05/10/2011 09:04:00 EDINBURGH VAN The parcel has been loaded on to the drivers van

😀

Best get some DIY done, as little will be happening once that motherhubbard arrives!

Ive booked the sofa for some serious modding time 🙂

Would you mind letting me know what mods you two are up to?

Ideally how to get the Marketplace to work as there are some apps that I'd like to get onto it.

wont be able to put marketplace on until someone has got a new ROM for it.

keep an eye in here
http://forum.archosfans.com/viewforum.php?f=87&sid=1a0a5ef7e3e93696ca45cfb042690d82

and

http://www.arctablet.com/blog/

for when it's launched.

Mine appears to have spent 6 hours in a van within about 10 miles of me 🙁

Blob your apps might be available.

Anyone managed to find a listing of what's actually available on the appslib?

Done a search on appslib for what I want and nothing is returned from that (these are mainly Spotify and the Buffalo Inc Livestation app) but there are plenty of apps on there, I just don't know what I would need most of them for!

Right time to share my thoughts and experience,i have a vega 10.1 which is nice but i find the larger size to bulky for carry around,so bought an Arnova 7c g2 a cple of weeks ago,if 3g isnt important iwould go for the g2 as it has the cortex cpu, the 7c version doesnt support flash player,it seems to display flash banners on websites ok tho...aps lib is crap and not all android apps work with this model and there doesnt seem to be much modding support yet...overall its a good bit of kit,cpu wont play youtube player smoothly in hd,but then again my vega struggles with that also...interestinly i discovered that android wifi doesnt recognise adhoc wifi hotspots so using software wifi hotspot doesnt work unless you phone has biult in hotspot feature so for me the 3g sim slot is handy

Mine's finally arrived and....there's a problem 🙁

the screen is not responding in the very top left hand corner which is where the home button sits. have tested by rotating display and that corner is dead no matter what icon is under it (where as home button works in the other three corners)

so, back in the box and away it goes. blast.

Otherwise seems OK. Was in the process of installing opera etc having set up my appslib account.

Bummer stoner 🙁

I'll post up a video of mine if that helps? 😛

That'd be great, Al 😉

Could someone check if evernote is on appslib?

.

aracer - Member

Lenovo X100e

Ooh, we likes that.

Mine's finally arrived and....there's a problem

Ugh. Gutted for you, mate.

But how do PDFS look!!!!!! I needs to know 🙂

jumps in the ring with Big Daddy to take on Giant Haystacks*

Perhaps Haystacks sat on it ? 😉

Does the archos have a front camera for Skype? Also for movies will it still play 1080 films but downgrade them to 720?

Mine has arrived-uh!

Have opened a couple of bags of crisps to keep me going. Will post up a video shortly.

posted from my iPhone 4S

Al - can you post a pic in comparison to your phone so i can compare/contrast?
cheers

Stoner, that has been a complaint with the Archos, I was going to get the 101 (£100 hmv voucher winnings), but then they lied about the cpu speed, they weren't forthcoming about ram, faffed with launch dates then I stumbled onto archosfans, read a bit more and got me a Transformer instead (with a £100 discount), assez wunderbar.

oi, Al you lazy ****er! sort out some pics and or video!

😉

Here you go.

Completely uniformative and NSFW in the last few second either ("You spin my right round" etc)

You want a proper one?

al you spaz! NSFW doesnt even cover it! 😉

How you getting on with it, before I put mine back in the box I was pretty pleased.

😆

You bloody idiot.

(-:

Only browsed on it so far. Seems a bit sluggish TBH. Screen is good tho.

sluggish browsing or in the OS?

using the native browser or something like opera mini?

Just the browser - native.

Got Angry Birds tho 😎 will look for opera.

Size feels right.

hows angry birds playing - without stuttering animation? fast load?

Animation good.

Now on Opera. Seems faster.

Will do a vid before bed time but gots to be brief as ihave an early start.

Will do a vid before bed time

just dont , alright 😉

I did...epic production. Sadly my camera whited out on the screen. Will try again tomorrow.

lol!

LMAO and I was expecting it!

New improved video uploading...gonna take 360 minutes WTF?

In lieu of another NSFW video, a wordy summary, Al?

It'll be SFW - I just show the browser, Angry Birds, some other stuff, in comparison to my Desire.

I like the tablet, def keeping it. Not quite as slick as an but close enough for me (and closer than my Desire to an iphone).

Battery life seems good too - been mincing around on it for an hour or o and only a wee decrease in battery icon.

Despite liking it initially, mine is boxed up and going back to HMV at lunchtime. Basic browsing is fine but it fails in a lot of other areas. The lack of full marketplace is a big issue for me, and I CBA waiting for a hack. The apps that are available are buggy and crash a lot. I use my Galaxy SII to stream stuff from my PC to the phone using TVersity and it works fine. On the Arnova, it crashes constantly. It simply would not find my router at home and I had to reset the router back to factory defaults before the Arnova could connect (I had the router set up not to broadcast the SSID). Flash stuff and Youtube seem to cause it to crash too.

Overall, fine for somebody that wants something basic to browse the web on the couch but as a gadget freak I like to push my toys a little bit harder and it's not up to the task.

cheers for the update bob.

Ive sent my faulty one back for a refund (if I were to replace Id buy direct from the shop), and I may hold on to the cash for now.

Ill see how al's getting on with his.

BoardinBob - Member
Overall, fine for somebody that wants something basic to browse the web on the couch.

*puts hands up*

I didn't even know you could stream tv to a tablet. But then I'd just watch tv 😎

VLC will also stream to your phone or you can use the phone as a remote to control the VLC on the computer

I bought a tablet for exactly as stonersays - media consumption

I travel alot and spemd alot of time traveling on long haul flights and in foreign countrys on my doup doing nothing - 10 hr battery life was a big factor for me

Big memory was a big factor

A 10 inch screen was a huge factor ( hd was a bonus - but when folk use it its the first. Thing they comment on !)

Books videos and music and some browsing - also handy for traveling is filmontv app where i can watch uk tv chanels for free live or nearly live streaming over internet - handy for the rugby world cup a few weeeks back where my options were watch it in dutch or read the text flicker on bbc ( iplayer , itv player and the like dont work over here without a proxy which i dont have access to a reliable fast one)as much as i prefer to read real physical books the ability to have 20 or so books on tap to kill time is great or 60 odd movies

After playing with all the tablets in pc world it was. Toss up between the apple and the samsung 10.1,-although the samsung was marginally quicker in a side by side test i deemed important i end up with apple for a few reasons - dixons couldnt sell me a samsung and the price was the same as the ipad , all my media is itunes format , my current peripherals ( stereo ,chargers and docking station are all apple compatible) and because my phone has been really robust - samsungs ive had in the past havnt been - apple seem to trade on technological advances rather than planned obscelence- even with the battery issue that folk seem to find..... My mrs second hand years old used and abused 3gs still holds as much charge as a new un give or take 20 minutes

The only thing that would have sweyed me is usb support for an external hard drive - if anyone say oh but the vega does this youll get brained . Ill never own another advent product as long as i live .......... Shonky plasticy fall apart pieces of crap with a back up that needs to be prodded with a shot gun !

😕 Well. You've made me break it.

Last night I'm sure I could watch the midweek mini movies, then I saw the suggestion of using Opera browser which I loaded and now I can't watch them, even though I've uninstalled Opera. Bah *shakes fist*.

my karma is not that strong, I promise! 🙁

Well. You've made me break it.

Last night I'm sure I could watch the midweek mini movies, then I saw the suggestion of using Opera browser which I loaded and now I can't watch them, even though I've uninstalled Opera. Bah *shakes fist*.

I had that problem. Things would work, then they wouldn't, with no obvious reason why.

I had that problem. Things would work, then they wouldn't, with no obvious reason why.

Hmm. they still play just fine on my iPhone 😈

And they played fine on my iphone too.

And my Galaxy S2

And my iPad 2

🙄

Think I saw instructions on engaget how to get the market place installed on these.

Also just found comet are selling the 10" version (4gb) for £150 (minus 2.5% quidco). Whilst 4gb seems pish small the SD card slot should allow to extend it cheaply.

Also just found comet are selling the 10" version (4gb) for £150 (minus 2.5% quidco).

I think you're looking at the "old" model.

Currys had a 10" for £130 IIRC, but it appeared to be an older one - as slow and clunky as the vega...but you are correct, that is the G2...or is it? Android 2.0?

Hmmm there's 1 up the road from me. I am tempted to try the 10" - it's only 540gm vs 700+ odd for Ipad etc...would be helpful to know if it's the real deal or not.

If I get time I'll do so and report back....meanwhile my review video (it really is shite) is still uploading.

Hmmm, actually that Comet one looks like the "new" model, it's just the Android "2.0" bit of the spec which is incorrect.

Anyone looked at the AndyPad?

[url= http://www.andypad.co.uk ]http://www.andypad.co.uk[/url]

http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Tablets/buy-ARNOVA-ARNOVA10-G2-Tablet/757373
[img] [/img]

Certainly looks identical to the Arnova site, latest version:
http://arnovatech.com/products/g2/arn_10/index.html?country=ua&lang=en
[img] [/img]

Yep I'm being very careful regarding the 10" G2 and the previous 10.1". As said above the spec is for the new one but wrong Android version. Comet also have the old version (but out of stock) which I think you can only get to via a google search.

I've reserved one to pick up at store, just trying to convince my wife to head out during her lunch to pick it up for me.

HMV weren't keen to give me a refund. I said it kept crashing and they said they would have to test it. I told them the main reason I wanted a refund was because it was crap and I told them it wasn't fit for purpose. Had to get the manager involved but at least I got refunded and I was told I was technically only entitled to an exchange or store credit. Apparently these T&Cs were on the back of the receipt...which I didn't get until AFTER I'd bought the thing 😆

I'm off to Currys to try the 10"

Anyway here's the long-awaited video. This is crap and the closest most of you (yep, I mean you GW!) will get to my bed:

Anyone found an android app yet that you can take notes on but that stores them on the phone (with online backup) with encryption - basically Evernote with encryption (which you can currently only do on a computer, not mobile).

The only thing that would have sweyed me is usb support for an external hard drive

Its a 1terrabyte external hdd full o movies - if i was going to that hassle id just plug in the ipad to the laptop like i do now

That workaround really is an i can do this to proove you android lovers wrong but its a wholely impractical and shite solution but to implement anything else would mean an entire new os really with a file structure support that could work off hdds -and more power from the port