Hi to all! I'm new here and I'm hoping someone can can answer a few questions and concerns for me about the Sero 7 Pro. I apologize in advance if it's a bit too long but this seems like the place to ask about this.
I bought one of these the other day at Walmart for $129.99 for my girlfriend's Christmas gift. She has a cheaper little 4" tablet that she uses all the time so this year I thought I would upgrade her to this one - she uses it mostly for gaming, like Candy Crush. But it's very small and limited in what it can do. Cost is a big factor for me as money is tight this Christmas. I love the many features of this tablet and of course the tablet that I'm comparing it to directly is the Kindle Fire HD. I think this will be the tablet I give her but I do have a couple concerns I was hoping somebody could shed some light on:
- I have read the following comment about the Sero 7 Pro and it worries me a bit:
"Basically, any time the sero would start to warm up a bit, performance would get horrible. I saw this on games like Nova 3 and Horn, graphically intensive games. They would get so choppy as to be unplayable. With the tegra over clock app, I found that the kernel has a three step "thermal guard" set up, and the first step was set at 45C... And cut the CPU speed in half! The app recommended that the speed not be throttled until about 70C. I changed to this and now have no performance issues. Only downside... The setting has to be redone after reboot."
This worries me a bit - it sounds like the kernel has it set to throttle the graphics performance when it gets over 45C - and I've read several comments that the tablet can definitely get warm with use. So is this throttling something that is noticeable to people? This poster I quoted above sure thought so. My girlfriend mostly plays puzzle games but with a nicer tablet like this I think we'll be trying out some more graphically-advanced games, but the throttling sounds like it could be an issue. Does the Kindle Fire HD do that also? The Youtube reviews I've seen for this tablet seem to say that gaming on this tablet is as good or better than the Kindle Fire HD, but if the graphics get throttled at 45C and the tablet reaches this temp often during charging or heavy gameplay, then this may be an issue. I won't be rooting the tablet so I won't be able to install that Tegra overclock app that he mentioned. Any thoughts? Is throttling in-game that much of an issue with this tablet when it's warm?
- Also, I read earlier in this thread somewhere that the creaky back plate may have been improved in build quality in later builds of this tablet - the back was reinforced better to avoid the flexing or something. The date on the sticker on the tablet box says May 2013. When did this Pro tablet first hit stores? May seems like it was early in it's run. Would this tablet have the fixed back plate or am I better off seeing if I can find a newer build with a more recent date?
- This video below shows a bug where the guy's stylus can't draw smoothly on the screen - it skips and stutters. He says using a finger is fine but the stylus always leaves gaps as he demonstrates. The Kindle Fire HD seems to have no issue like that, only the Sero 7 Pro. Is that an isolated case or maybe his stylus is weird (he tried 2 different stylus pens he said)? Is this an issue with the Sero 7 pro screen?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNiH0q1fz-M
- Another interesting thing I learned on a Youtube clip - the Kindle Fire HD has a 10-point capacitive IPS screen - the Sero 7 Pro has a 5-point capacitive IPS screen. So the Kindle Fire HD can register up to 10 finger touches at once, unlike this tablet, which only registers 5 fingers maximum at once. Does that even matter? It seems to me that you likely wouldn't need more than 5 fingers at a time on the screen anyways, unless some games might benefit.
- Also, is it true that the Sero7 Pro can't read NTFS formatted SD cards, thus restricting video files to less than 4GB for FAT32?
- One other note - I've read conflicting information in this thread regarding Walmart's warranty against cracked screens, spills, etc. - some said it was $15, some said $28. The guy that sold the tablet to me at Walmart said it costs $28.00 - I asked him about the $15 price and he said that does not apply to tablets - and he gave me a printed card with their warranty prices and sure enough it says right on the glossy printed card that the
in-store price of the 2-year warranty for tablets $100-$150 is $28. So I'm thinking those that paid $15 may not be properly covered according to the card he gave me to keep.
Anyways any thoughts would be much appreciated. The Kindle Fire HD is going on sale on Black Friday at Staples for $89 for the 16GB - that price makes it a very tempting buy instead of this tablet - more internal space for games and apps, but no room for music or videos, which she likely wouldn't care about so much anyways. I wish this tablet had 16GB instead of 8. Of course this tablet has a better camera too. Also the Kindle Fire HD comes with annoying ads and you have to pay like $20 or more to remove the ads, so with that factored in, it's not much cheaper than this on Black Friday. I'm not sure what to do but I'd like to stick with the Sero 7 pro. But some of these points have me worried.
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