Noob questions

[Kerfuffle]

Hi guys and gals, noob here from downunder.

I am looking at buying a Tablet and have narrowed it down to the Iconia 32GB 501. Obviously there are pros and cons for all the options at the moment. Down here in Australia, 3G models are still not widely available - I have ruled out the Xoom (price and general lack of 3G), the Asus Transformer looks nice but 3G wont be availble for a while and the same goes for the Thrive.

Whilst there are negative comments on the Iconia Tablets, most users who have one seem to agree on their being a good bit of kit.

Mostly I am interested in exploring Android (my only Android experience has been usig my wife's HTC Desire phone for the last couple of months that she has had it) and using a range of media on it (ereading, comics, pdfs, videos etc).

I understand some of the problems with video playback for Tablets at the moment but for other uses, can people share their day to day experiences yusing the device, including likes and dislikes.

Also, I would want to side load cbr and cbz comic archives for reading, what app does this the best at the moment?

Thanks from a noob for any info.

 

[bawboh86]

For using cbr and cbz files, try out acv (android comic viewer).

As for day to day usage, this thing has been amazingly useful. Taking notes at work, reading, playing games, and research. I use it tethered to my phone while at work (I'm under a heavy proxy at work) to research sites on the 'net. I do read on a regular basis, and this tablet does make it handy for just that. I also use it for presentations thanks to it's micro HDMI slot and the mirroring capabilities. I have a few cables and a micro HDMI converter I use with it to connect it to just about any projector or monitor. If I ever need to access something on a computer that isn't available on tablets, I can even remote desktop to my computer at home and run anything my heart desires.

I have to say, of all my gadgets and computing devices, it's been the most useful.

 

[trgilman]

I'll try and sum up my feelings on the Tablet.

Likes:
Plenty of storage options, with the MicroSD and USB ports.
Has the ability to play Flash, although over time this is becoming less important.
Not tied down to one App market place, still a buyer beware situation.

Dislikes:
Sub-par battery life. You get hopefully 6 hours of heavy usage between charges.
Extremely limited amount of Apps optimized for Android tablets.
Choppy video playback. Also touch screen interface lag.
Very limited customer support, and updates.

After having this tablet for a month, I would not recommend it to many people other then tinkerers.
It feels like early beta testing for Honeycomb, and we pay to do the beta testing.

My advice: Pay the $50 extra and get a more polished tablet with the iPad. Even with Apples restrictions, you get a much more functional OS. Also Apples customer support can't be beat.

 

[splatoid]

I have to say this is a very useful tablet. I use it for all my Internet tethered to my cell and I watch AVI movies cause the picture is great.I don't have any what so ever screen lag it is very snappy and I had a little typing lag on the Internet browser. but I tested many browsers and found one that has taken care of that. I don't feel that this is at all a beta testing scenario except with the newer OS. I do agree with the Acer support problems but I haven't needed them as of yet. I have had my tablet for two months now and still love. I have rooted this and currently unrooted to get ready for the newer update.
While rooted I am able to use my 500 gig NTFS external hard drive. After the new update it should be supported withouy root.

 

[romylam]

Hi

You mentioned having converters to get your iconia hooked up to any projector or monitor, are you referring to HDMI only? Most older projectors do not have HDMI ports, so how do you work around it? Do you have some sort of HDMI to VGA converter?

For using cbr and cbz files, try out acv (android comic viewer).

As for day to day usage, this thing has been amazingly useful. Taking notes at work, reading, playing games, and research. I use it tethered to my phone while at work (I'm under a heavy proxy at work) to research sites on the 'net. I do read on a regular basis, and this tablet does make it handy for just that. I also use it for presentations thanks to it's micro HDMI slot and the mirroring capabilities. I have a few cables and a micro HDMI converter I use with it to connect it to just about any projector or monitor. If I ever need to access something on a computer that isn't available on tablets, I can even remote desktop to my computer at home and run anything my heart desires.

I have to say, of all my gadgets and computing devices, it's been the most useful.

 

[Asaroth2010]

I'll try and sum up my feelings on the Tablet.

Likes:
Plenty of storage options, with the MicroSD and USB ports.
Has the ability to play Flash, although over time this is becoming less important.
Not tied down to one App market place, still a buyer beware situation.

Dislikes:
Sub-par battery life. You get hopefully 6 hours of heavy usage between charges.
Extremely limited amount of Apps optimized for Android tablets.
Choppy video playback. Also touch screen interface lag.
Very limited customer support, and updates.

After having this tablet for a month, I would not recommend it to many people other then tinkerers.
It feels like early beta testing for Honeycomb, and we pay to do the beta testing.

My advice: Pay the $50 extra and get a more polished tablet with the iPad. Even with Apples restrictions, you get a much more functional OS. Also Apples customer support can't be beat.

I agree about the choppy video with the stock player but you can use any other player. I use Vplayer and it plays smooth as silk. I've tried to use a portable drive for storage but can.t get it to work but thumb drives work fine

 

[Fumetsu]

It's completely replaced my laptop. I never use it anymore. I mostly do web browsing, video playback, etc. Standard "media consumption" type things.

Here are some of my thoughts:

• Storage options are endless. MicroSD, USB Thumb Drives, and External HDDs can all be connected. It will support NTFS file structure if you download "USB Mount All" from the market - insanely useful.
• As much as people knock Flash, it's great to be able to visit any website with Flash and have it work. You're not going to get that on iPad and I visit a surprising number of websites that use Flash and couldn't imagine a tablet without it.
• Apps optimized for Honeycomb are limited, but growing every day. Most regular Android apps seem to work, though, and I don't see this being a problem for too long as the number of tablets available and being sold reaches critical mass.
• I don't see the battery issues others have, but I am running a custom ROM and kernel so that may play some part. I get 12-14 hours of usage and up to 3 days on stand by. If you aren't experienced with already running custom ROMs/Kernels and/or don't know the risks involved, stay away from them until you've done a lot of reading and feel comfortable enough to do so. There's always a risk that you can brick your tablet.

I simply can't recommend iPad or iPhone to anyone looking for a phone or tablet simply because it doesn't have the customization that Android has and I don't like Apple's locked down structure. I'm a tech geek, though, so I like to tinker with my devices. I think Android has matured and come into its own and can stand toe-to-toe with any iOS device, regardless of what media/tech blogs may say, and I've used them both to compare.

If you're trying to narrow down your tab choices and have your heart set on Android, but are worried about the negative reviews of the Iconia - grab the Galaxy Tab 10.1 from Samsung over an iPad. It's a gorgeous device, very polished, and I'd say is the "flagship" Android tablet available on the market right now - even over the Xoom.

The lack of Flash on a tablet is simply unacceptable - at least for me, and expandable storage is a must - again, at least for me. That's why the Iconia was the perfect fit.

 

[bawboh86]

Hi

You mentioned having converters to get your iconia hooked up to any projector or monitor, are you referring to HDMI only? Most older projectors do not have HDMI ports, so how do you work around it? Do you have some sort of HDMI to VGA converter?

I have an HDMI to dvi cable and use a female HDMI to male micro HDMI converter.

 

[romylam]

So it is HDMI to DVI, digital to digital. So I guess if you run into an old projector that do not have HDMI or DVI ports then it's going to be a no go. Thanks for clarifying.

I have an HDMI to dvi cable and use a female HDMI to male micro HDMI converter.

 

[Kerfuffle]

Thx for the comments guys - very helpful.