I've been getting an itch to pick up a 7 inch Android tablet, primarily for gaming.
I have a 32 GB Samsung Galaxy SIII (SGSIII) and it plays games just fine. Unfortunately, the games I really want to play will suck the battery dry in about 2-3 hours. Also, even though the screen has excellent resolution, it seems to be a bit small for certain controls.
I also have a 32 GB HP TouchPad, which I have set up to dual boot webOS and CM9. The problem with that is the Google Play Store doesn't recognize it as a legitimate device, so I can't install most of my apps on it. I've installed many games from the Amazon Appstore because it doesn't seem to mind what device I'm installing on. But then I found that the device is too big and heavy to comfortably game on.
This is how I came to believe that a 7 inch tablet would probably be the sweet spot for Android gaming.
I would really like to try the Google Nexus 7, but the lack of an SD card seemed to be too limiting. And while the price is decent, I'm always one to look for a deal. So I started looking around Amazon. Why just Amazon? Well, when I ordered Windows 8 I was later given a $30 credit. I also have an Amazon credit card with over $55 worth of rewards points on it. The trick to using them together is that the item(s) have to be sold directly by Amazon.
Of course, Amazon doesn't carry the N7 by themselves. And the merchants that do sell them on Amazon are overcharging for them. I instead started looking for other decent 7 inch Android tablets. Amazon was offering the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (SGT2) for $179. Using my points and credit, I was able to get it for like $93.
Now I have it in hand and my journey begins...
First Impressions:
1. TouchWiz sucks just as bad on the SGT2 as it does on the SGSIII -- I immediately loaded Nova Prime from the Play Store, just like I did on my SGSIII. Big improvement.
2. The screen is DIM. 15% brightness indoors on my SGSIII is just fine. On the SGT2 I have to crank it up to about 50% to get similar brightness. Yeah, it's probably due to the difference between SAMOLED and LCD, but it is still worth noting.
3. The Quick Launch bar (or whatever it's called) is basically useless. I'm not going to use its programs, especially when I can put what I want on the home screen and save myself at least one touch.
4. I have not yet filled the tab's internal memory, but I will soon. Samsung should be ashamed of itself for claiming this is an 8 GB tablet when less than 5 GB are actually available to the user.
At this point I will keep the SGT2. I will also wait for it to be updated to Jelly Bean before I root it. But I will DEFINITELY root it and I will do so to remove a bunch of crap and also to employ the script that swaps the microSD card for main memory. I will probably remain on a rooted, de-bloated stock ROM long enough to determine if I'm satisfied enough. If not, I will employ either CM10 or an AOSP/AOKP JB build. I just want the tablet to be identified to the Play Store as an SGT2 so that I can still download apps without having to resort to the Amazon Appstore. The reason I'm trying to "avoid" the Amazon Appstore is because it takes so long for them to received updated versions of the apps they sell. I mean, does it really need to take a few extra weeks to update the AMAZON app in their very own Appstore, as compared to the Play Store? Come on, that's just ridiculous.
I'll keep coming back to update my progress with the tablet. Thanks for reading.
I have a 32 GB Samsung Galaxy SIII (SGSIII) and it plays games just fine. Unfortunately, the games I really want to play will suck the battery dry in about 2-3 hours. Also, even though the screen has excellent resolution, it seems to be a bit small for certain controls.
I also have a 32 GB HP TouchPad, which I have set up to dual boot webOS and CM9. The problem with that is the Google Play Store doesn't recognize it as a legitimate device, so I can't install most of my apps on it. I've installed many games from the Amazon Appstore because it doesn't seem to mind what device I'm installing on. But then I found that the device is too big and heavy to comfortably game on.
This is how I came to believe that a 7 inch tablet would probably be the sweet spot for Android gaming.
I would really like to try the Google Nexus 7, but the lack of an SD card seemed to be too limiting. And while the price is decent, I'm always one to look for a deal. So I started looking around Amazon. Why just Amazon? Well, when I ordered Windows 8 I was later given a $30 credit. I also have an Amazon credit card with over $55 worth of rewards points on it. The trick to using them together is that the item(s) have to be sold directly by Amazon.
Of course, Amazon doesn't carry the N7 by themselves. And the merchants that do sell them on Amazon are overcharging for them. I instead started looking for other decent 7 inch Android tablets. Amazon was offering the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (SGT2) for $179. Using my points and credit, I was able to get it for like $93.
Now I have it in hand and my journey begins...
First Impressions:
1. TouchWiz sucks just as bad on the SGT2 as it does on the SGSIII -- I immediately loaded Nova Prime from the Play Store, just like I did on my SGSIII. Big improvement.
2. The screen is DIM. 15% brightness indoors on my SGSIII is just fine. On the SGT2 I have to crank it up to about 50% to get similar brightness. Yeah, it's probably due to the difference between SAMOLED and LCD, but it is still worth noting.
3. The Quick Launch bar (or whatever it's called) is basically useless. I'm not going to use its programs, especially when I can put what I want on the home screen and save myself at least one touch.
4. I have not yet filled the tab's internal memory, but I will soon. Samsung should be ashamed of itself for claiming this is an 8 GB tablet when less than 5 GB are actually available to the user.
At this point I will keep the SGT2. I will also wait for it to be updated to Jelly Bean before I root it. But I will DEFINITELY root it and I will do so to remove a bunch of crap and also to employ the script that swaps the microSD card for main memory. I will probably remain on a rooted, de-bloated stock ROM long enough to determine if I'm satisfied enough. If not, I will employ either CM10 or an AOSP/AOKP JB build. I just want the tablet to be identified to the Play Store as an SGT2 so that I can still download apps without having to resort to the Amazon Appstore. The reason I'm trying to "avoid" the Amazon Appstore is because it takes so long for them to received updated versions of the apps they sell. I mean, does it really need to take a few extra weeks to update the AMAZON app in their very own Appstore, as compared to the Play Store? Come on, that's just ridiculous.
I'll keep coming back to update my progress with the tablet. Thanks for reading.