This thing looks pretty slick and well built for the price point and a lot more flexible than the Kindle Fire. This is the type of Android device I'd be interested in. I like the 7" tablet format, and I like a widescreen res, something that the rumoured cheaper 7" iPad mini won't have.
a stock Google experience with a price point clearly meant to put a hurt on Amazon’s Kindle Fire, and sway potential buyers of Apple's lower-end iPad 2.
So, $50 more than the US for the base model. Thats still a big mark up given the AUD is still on par with the USD. Shipping Isn't the issue, they are made in Taipai or something so we are closer FFS.
EIther way it's not far from; i'm not unhappy with 250 dollars on what will compliment my car stereo, replace my gps, and still be able to see notifications for important things plus i can get a app which will read my toyota OBD2 port wirelessly.
On the topic of car stereo/gps etc. I had a hunt around and it seems none of the usual car stereo brands have made an android based system?
Some of the chinese ones have moved away from Windows CE 5 and 6 and started android ones, but there's no point because they're still using cheap as shit resistive screens instead of capacitative meaning the finger tracking is clunky like a jetstar onboard entertainment system.
Don't US also have tax added when they buy stuff it's just not added in the listed price? So they don't really get it for $199?
yeh their sales tax is not in their advertised pricing because it varies frmo state to state and so rather than listing 50 differing prices they simply give a price and its upto the consumer to add their own relevant tax
Got anything more indepth to add mongie?I might just order one, it's only $300 - have to get the 16gb one.EDIT: Fuck it, ordered. 1-2 week delay in shipping though :(
what's the story on the screen mongie? Some reviews are saying that there's some minor backlight bleeding & bad ghosting on some units (though not all). Also, there's reports of a production issue where the cover screws aren't done up tight enough but thankfully it's not a major thing, just a QA issue and can be easily fixed without returning it.
250 dollars on what will compliment my car stereo, replace my gps, and still be able to see notifications for important things plus i can get a app which will read my toyota OBD2 port wirelessly.
How does it read it wirelessly? Does it use a bluetooth dongle, or does your car actually have that functionality built in?
Also, nothing will ever replace my GPS, not until google maps have offline mode where I can download the entire australian map in one hit instead of this area caching bullshit they currently have. Nor do I plan on getting a second sim card for my "GPS" so I can use 3g.
Also, nothing will ever replace my GPS, not until google maps have offline mode where I can download the entire australian map in one hit instead of this area caching bullshit they currently have. Nor do I plan on getting a second sim card for my "GPS" so I can use 3g.
Dazhel - I haven't noticed anything with mine - definitely not back light bleed.
I have noticed a slight flicker - which I've attributed to the auto back light setting, but its not enough to annoy me and it doesn't happen often.
Don't know what else I can say really - its a great tablet for the price. feels really solid and is quick enough. I saw I'd made it to 2 days battery life the last night - with a couple of hours of heavy use and the rest standby - I think that is probably enough for me (it was still at 15%).
The crazy personalisation thing scared me a bit... When I got it, it already had my gmail account programmed into it and asked me just to enter my password.
Google Now looks cool, except that I've really only had the cards for weather and trip to work show up at this point. "Siri" style "personal assistant" is awesome - way better than my fiancée's iPhone; both in terms of recognition and the voice that talks back to you.
This was one of the first things I played with - it seemed to only let me cache an area the size of Greater Brisbane.
Yeah seems like there's a limit of about 80MB per cache, but as far as I can tell you can have unlimited number of caches (storage permitting of course).
Also, nothing will ever replace my GPS, not until google maps have offline mode where I can download the entire australian map in one hit instead of this area caching bullshit they currently have. Nor do I plan on getting a second sim card for my "GPS" so I can use 3g.
ta mongie I've had my eye on one but was a little hesitant with reviews saying how great the device is but some had a few screen issues. I guess if there's any really bad ghosting there's the possibility of a replacement.
Seems like a cool gadget, but I still can't really figure out a use for it. Where do these sorts of things fit in people's lives? Like, what do you actually do with them?
I was meaning some real world examples not the bulletpoints off the back of the box. I mean, I'm not trying to be a dick about it, I'm just genuinely having trouble seeing where in my life this would fit. Mobile gaming, I got my phone if I want to do that, same if I need to look up a website or something while I'm out, otherwise I'm at home with a PC. Books, I would imagine its not the best screen to read books off, I much prefer my Kindle with the e-ink screen for actual reading (I find screens like on tablets or phones or computers draw my eyes if I'm reading for long periods of time).
Watching movies when travelling is valid, I can see that, but thats a very specific thing and not really an every-day use, I just can't imagine an every day use for one.
I use offline caching sometimes but the hiking part of that vid is deceptive for two reasons:
1. Google maps generally has close to zero detail in National parks. Satellite photo caching would be more useful, but you can't do that.
2. The vid shows a guy getting a GPS lock under trees while hiking. Sorry but that's not gonna happen in real life.
As a very general rule, I think the more time one sits at a PC the less value you will see in a tablet. And vice versa - the people I know who tend to love their tablet are those who aren't particularly techy and were never in the habit of using their home PC regularly.
Arguably the exception is the iPad, which I think (ignoring the other tablet'y things it does) could just as easily be grouped in with other dedicated games consoles; and then you get into a PC vs console gaming discussion instead.
Grabbing a transformer infinity (TF700) at the beginning of august. Just waiting for stock to arrive. I accidently broke my TF101 in japan on the final day. Being rough with my bags and when i turned it on in the plane, it wouldn't turn on :(
Got home after the flight and hooked up the HDMI cable, the transformer was on and working, but the screen was dead and no touch response. The dock allowed me to use the tablet.. It'll be something i bother to open up, but given tax return was nice, i just decided that i'd get a 1920x1200 res screen because the only thing that bugged me was websites weren't small enough and remote desktop was too low res. This solves both those problems.
I was meaning some real world examples not the bulletpoints off the back of the box. I mean, I'm not trying to be a dick about it, I'm just genuinely having trouble seeing where in my life this would fit. Mobile gaming, I got my phone if I want to do that, same if I need to look up a website or something while I'm out, otherwise I'm at home with a PC. Books, I would imagine its not the best screen to read books off, I much prefer my Kindle with the e-ink screen for actual reading (I find screens like on tablets or phones or computers draw my eyes if I'm reading for long periods of time).Watching movies when travelling is valid, I can see that, but thats a very specific thing and not really an every-day use, I just can't imagine an every day use for one.
Lots of academics use em. They seem to be useful because they travel a lot and email a lot. They use them to read journal articles (a bit hard or impossible to do on a kindle) and also highlight/note things. You can also get some specialised apps for your specific profession.
People just want to stay connected all the time. It's a bit scary.
Just got my Nexus 7 tonight. Got it out of the box and started it up, a few seconds later, it shuts down :( WTF
I now have it plugged in to power, I hold down the power button for 10 seconds to turn it back on, I get the Google logo, then a colourful X shape, then it shuts down again.
I was meaning some real world examples not the bulletpoints off the back of the box. I mean, I'm not trying to be a dick about it, I'm just genuinely having trouble seeing where in my life this would fit.
For me i had the same question a lot. But when a family member got their ipad, and my laptop died the next day, the weekend plan was to go to newcastle which has little to no entertainment, i decided to bite the bullet and spend 450 on a Asus Transformer. Sure mine has a dock but here's how i use it in tablet form:
1) In bed reading manga. 2) At work reading manga, taking basic notes on people's problems (our new ticketing system is all web based) 3) Watching youtube anywhere, in bed, on the couch while watching something else 4) Watching TED stuff 5) Constantly on flights, so while waiting for them to board, while waiting for them to land, while waiting to be picked up or transferred (I fly once a month minimum) 6) While i exercise my treadmil has a neat nook where you can stand books etc up on, instead i put my tablet there and watch streaming DLNA served content (mostly just the TV shows i've converted and saved to my server)
I don't own a laptop anymore, i realised i don't actually do anything that terminal services can't fix. I remote to the TS if i need to do something specifically MS office based, or else there's the document editing stuff and powerpoint reading stuff and excel reader that comes from asus.
Honestly, i thought it wouldn't fit, but it just stopped me using my phone quite as much and replaced my laptop completely.
here's why: 16 hours of useable battery life. That's watching 16 hours of standard def movies straight. That's longer than my flight to (or from) osaka. That's long enough to not need to worry about taking up to gladstone using all day and then coming home for a fly-in fly-out day.
Finally: app support. There's just so many apps which are better in tablet form over phone. They run so much better and faster than even half the actual full MS counterparts on a laptop.
And i know it won't apply to everyone, and i'm not saying android over ipad but you'll find that it doesn't fill a need, it gives you new options and your old 'needs' were actually wants and you want something else now.
Khel I was the same. I thought the iPad was a gimmick until I got one (free, couldn't convince me to pay for one) and the uses opened up pretty quickly. I have one sitting on the coffee table in the lounge room which means I leave my phone and laptop upstairs. If I want to watch something like a TV show in bed I use the iPad. When travelling for work it's more convenient to take it with me instead of lugging around the laptop, power adapters, cables, etc.
I also use my xoom to stream music from my computer to my lounge room. I leave my laptop at work unless i need to do work from home. It was fantastic when I had an operation last year and was in hospital for about 5 days. Brought in my tablet and my external hard drive and i was good to go.
Just got my Nexus 7 tonight. Got it out of the box and started it up, a few seconds later, it shuts down :(WTFI now have it plugged in to power, I hold down the power button for 10 seconds to turn it back on, I get the Google logo, then a colourful X shape, then it shuts down again. Anyone heard of this before?
Power the GNex completely down Press and hold both volume buttons in While holding both volume buttons, press and also hold in the power button You will see an image of an Android and a Start sign at the top, release all the buttons Use the volume keys to move the selection and choose Recovery mode, and when highlighted press the power button From the Recovery Mode screen, press and hold the power button in and then while holding it in, press the volume up button Now select wipe data / factory reset Select Yes -- delete all user data Once it completes, choose reboot system now and give it up to ten minutes to reboot for the first time
Theory is somehow despite never booting the bootloader became corrupted ( :S ) this will reset that hopefully.
in summary when it comes to tablets its hard to quantify exactly where in your life they fit because they fill so many niche gaps its not funny.
until you have one and begin using it you simply dont realise exactly what gaps you will fill.
also.. the nexus 7 makes an awesome ebook reader unless yours going to read for 3-4 hour stints, the size and weight make it awesome for reading in bed while drifting off.. whereas the ipad starts to weigh down on ya..
ive had 2 ipads and they were a great intro to the tablet world.. however my nexus 7 has simply replaced them because its form factor/processor ect all add upto a much nicer device to fill all the niches that i fill. the ipad is too close to being laptop in size and its just as easy to use my mbp.
ET are you still having problems? TryTheory is somehow despite never booting the bootloader became corrupted ( :S ) this will reset that hopefully.
Yep, still trying to get it to work. It came to life for a few minutes and looked like it was going to be ok. It found a system update so I went ahead and did that, now its back to being a retard and not booting.
When I try and get into recovery mode, all I get is the Google logo on the screen and nothing happens. Got me fucked. Not very happy right now.
thats wierd E.T your the first person ive read about having such a big problem (admittedly i havent been on whirlpool lately but i know about 15 people with them now and all very happy :S )
Its running like a champion now. I'm thinking they may have a bug in the auto brightness p. When I plugged it into the PC last night, I could see the tablet so it was there, I just couldn't see its screen. I'm running manual brightness now just in case.
Its running like a champion now. I'm thinking they may have a bug in the auto brightness p.When I plugged it into the PC last night, I could see the tablet so it was there, I just couldn't see its screen. I'm running manual brightness now just in case.
That's weird as hell, maybe the sensor is wrong because it's unlikely that the software was bugged just for you. The sensor could just be reading that the display needs to be off :s
Its running like a champion now. I'm thinking they may have a bug in the auto brightness p.When I plugged it into the PC last night, I could see the tablet so it was there, I just couldn't see its screen. I'm running manual brightness now just in case.
Well, looks like I was on the money then. Maybe this happens when the pre setup the device (when you advise them of your google account details before hand)
I've got to tell you though, it was a huge pain in the arse I didnt need when you take a brand new device out of the box.
I just picked one up yesterday after selling my original Transformer + Dock to my girlfriend's mum. Really liking it so far. Jelly Bean is really nice, and the 7" form-factor is much more convenient to handle than the 10" transformer. The rubbery-leathery back feels really good too, it makes it feel a little bit fancy.
The first thing I did when I got home was to get root access, because I had already read that the rooting process requires the device to be wiped. If anyone else is keen to root it, I highly recommend the Nexus Root Toolkit It comes with everything you need. You install the drivers on your PC, plug in your device and click a couple buttons in this program, and it does everything for you. It also has built-in backup and restore tools if you don't want to lose all of your stuff. Very handy package.
I think it's worth noting that one of the necessary drivers just wouldn't install for some reason, but the issue had already been addressed in this thread. I just installed that one manually through Device Manager and it was good to go.
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