Video Review & 2nd Look at Archos 101.

Video Review & 2nd Look at Archos 101. - Gen8 General

Here is our original video review of the Archos 101:
http://www.mytabletlife.com/2010/11/24/review-archos-101-internet-tablet/
Here is an update after the Android 2.2 update:
http://www.mytabletlife.com/2010/12/05/video-archos-101-look-android-2-2-update/
CPG
MyTabletLife.com

Very nice, thanks alot! Been waiting for more of these 2.2 reviews to come out but haven't seen many yet that actually addresses the problems and features that 2.2 has brought.
Would you recommend to update for the people who have still not updated?

span_01 said:
Very nice, thanks alot! Been waiting for more of these 2.2 reviews to come out but haven't seen many yet that actually addresses the problems and features that 2.2 has brought.
Would you recommend to update for the people who have still not updated?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you are itching for Flash 10.1 now then I think you might wanna wait. My device has no issues, but many are reporting problems. Archos has been releasing updates about once a month since the devices came out, so it is possible they will have a second 2.2 update before the end of this month.
They know there is a some issues and have addressed that their will be fixes, but no time frame has been given yet...
There is no way to back to 2.1 at the moment.. Thats why I would say wait..
CPG
MyTabletLife.com

I wouldn't update personally.. I thought all was fine, but now I've used it a few days.. it's in need of serious help.. I think the JIT Compiler is disabled, and many other 2.2 performance increases are not there. It's slower in benchmarks. I was liking it at first, but now things like multi-tasking are very hard. My G1 ran better. and that is the truth. I can only have 2 tabs in browser open, 3rd i get lag, then freezing, then reboot. almost every other time.
lol. I'm pretty sad

Reading amazon for Archos 101 reviews
Reading amazon for Archos 101 reviews. They range from complete HATE to downright marriage material.
The thing I hear the most common in these reviews is Screen response time.
Is this something that gets fixed with new software updates? I thought it might be something like that.
Another common theme is viewing angles. Well, still having NOT seen it, I worry about it. But then i will be the only one in front of it.
And yet another complaint on Amazon, as well as other places, is something about it not being a REal web browser?
I hope to use it for viewing AVI's of chuck season three, or my Brisco County, Jr dvd, some light or adventure gaming, reading pdfs, and reading in a REAL web browser, open office. Can I do these things easily with as little modding as possible?
Im guessing that theres a USB dvd available to be able to watch DVD's? Yes, Im a bit out of 'Tech' Touch?
Is there a light version of eclipse or some other IDE, that I can run under android? or is that asking too much?
---Joel

Viewing angles: With this it seems there may be 2 different panels being used, or just some people are why more picky then others. While the viewing angles are no where near as good as the iPad or Galaxy Tab I think they are still very acceptable. They are never bothersome when I am using the device.
Web Browser: I have no clue that what they mean about about it not being a real web browser... It is WebKit browser the same as Chrome and FireFox are built on. Yes it may not offer all the features of PC based browser but the average user should not know the difference. Some of those posts may be before 2.2 and Flash 10.1 being available. But in that sense it would be no different then browsing on the Apple iPad since it doesnt support Adobe Flash.
CPG
MyTabletLife.com

If you worry about the viewing angles, look at a netbook. The screen is the same as the common 10.1 inch netbook TN panel. In stock at most bestbuys, walmarts, targets, etc... you can play with one and see.
I have the 70, I use it as a netbook replacement. Fills that role very well. All except the typing. That takes quite a bit longer. For actual browsing though, its pretty good. I usually have about 3 tabs open in dolphin HD. With flash off of course. Flash is pretty worthless right now.

Oops pressed thanks rather than quote, but hey I don't mind helping that.
Anyway, the web browser is fine, plus you can download opera, opera mini, dolphin hd, and various other. 2.2 also support flash.

Related

[Q] Miss my Galaxy Tab....Do you?

Returned my G-Tab today, and bought the Xoom. I think I am having 2nd thoughts though.
I love the G-tab's size, and GUI (go figure). But saw the Xoom at Best Buy, and it was too irresistable to pass up. However, the xoom's size reminds me too much of the Ipad, and I just can't seem to get use to the Honeycomb GUI yet.
I guess the Xoom may just take some warming up to.
Anyone else feel my pain?
Guess I am just looking for some support.

nealwheels said:
Returned my G-Tab today, and bought the Xoom. I think I am having 2nd thoughts though.
I love the G-tab's size, and GUI (go figure). But saw the Xoom at Best Buy, and it was too irresistable to pass up. However, the xoom's size reminds me too much of the Ipad, and I just can't seem to get use to the Honeycomb GUI yet.
I guess the Xoom may just take some warming up to.
Anyone else feel my pain?
Guess I am just looking for some support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never had a Galaxy tab and would not want one (at least the current 7" model). I need more screen real estate. I already have an Android phone to cover the smaller screens. I don't like panning and zooming everything.

i love my xoom more and more everyday. I love the hardware accelleration in the browser but I don't like the lack of flash or. Lack of tablet optimized apps at the moment one thing to always remember is updates will always come sooner on a Google eperience device

android_geoff said:
i love my xoom more and more everyday. I love the hardware accelleration in the browser but I don't like the lack of flash or. Lack of tablet optimized apps at the moment one thing to always remember is updates will always come sooner on a Google eperience device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And we already know those are coming, just takes patience. Good point about the Google Experience. Hopefully we will see some updates in the coming weeks.

yes I've seen alot of demos for new apps so I know there on there way. Its weird though if you go to the market and click apps for tablets there's only 16. Half of which are games but if you go to games for tablets section there are more

android_geoff said:
yes I've seen alot of demos for new apps so I know there on there way. Its weird though if you go to the market and click apps for tablets there's only 16. Half of which are games but if you go to games for tablets section there are more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of my wish list items for market improvement.

I had the Tab and it was a neutered Android phone. Xoom is the way to go...give it some time.

ur serously saying that u liked Android 2.2 on a tab more then honeycomb?

I had a Gtab originally. I got rid of it because the service through TMobile was spotty and the screen was too small. I however love my xoom. Especially since I found a good converter program for all my movies. Once we get SD card support ill be golden

nealwheels said:
Returned my G-Tab today, and bought the Xoom. I think I am having 2nd thoughts though.
I love the G-tab's size, and GUI (go figure). But saw the Xoom at Best Buy, and it was too irresistable to pass up. However, the xoom's size reminds me too much of the Ipad, and I just can't seem to get use to the Honeycomb GUI yet.
I guess the Xoom may just take some warming up to.
Anyone else feel my pain?
Guess I am just looking for some support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As an owner of the Tab and the ipad.....I have realized that 10 inches is for home and vacation use. 7 inches is portable and can be taken anywhere. I have an Evo which I thought was huge before I got the Tab....now it seems tiny.
I might buy the wifi Xoom if it is priced right but I already know from experience with 10 inches that it will stay at home.
Sent from my SPH-P100 using XDA Premium App

I sold my Galaxy Tab yesterday, I'm so gald to get rid of it. It was incredibly slow even after overclocking and 2.2 was NOT meant for tablets.

2.2 may not be meant for tabs, but at least it runs flash and all the apps work without being buggy.

mitchweight said:
2.2 may not be meant for tabs, but at least it runs flash and all the apps work without being buggy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ran flash incredibly slowly, and the browser crashed all the time... sure.

Bauxite said:
Ran flash incredibly slowly, and the browser crashed all the time... sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really? I haven't had any problems with Flash or Dolphin. I watch more videos on the Tab than on my iPad (of course...lol).
Haven't rooted the Tab either (but rooted my Evo almost immediately after getting it)....haven't felt a need. The speed is fine for me.

Though I enjoyed the greater screen real estate (versus my EVO), the Galaxy Tab really is (as someone else already mentioned) just a neutered Android phone. After using the Xoom for several days, and using apps designed for Honeycomb, the difference is remarkable (just try Pulse, YouTube, CNN, or any of the games optimized for 3.0).
I do miss flash in my browser a bit, but that will come soon. I definitely do NOT miss the capacitive buttons on the bottom (a requirement for pre-Honeycomb devices)...it was terribly annoying to be enjoying a video or reading a document and having to be careful with the way I held so as not to accidentally press one of those buttons.
Also, the location of the stereo speakers on the Xoom is so much more sensible than the speaker on the G-Tab, where, once again, if you weren't holding it 'just-so' the sound would be muted by the palm of your hand.
**I have yet to significantly miss the SD card or flash. I do wish we could permanently set the UA string on the stock browser though, and I'm looking forward to the Citrix Receiver being updated for Honeycomb**
For me, flash, UA string, and Citrix will make this device a real killer, and it's good to know they will all be coming very soon.

khov07 said:
Though I enjoyed the greater screen real estate (versus my EVO), the Galaxy Tab really is (as someone else already mentioned) just a neutered Android phone. After using the Xoom for several days, and using apps designed for Honeycomb, the difference is remarkable (just try Pulse, YouTube, CNN, or any of the games optimized for 3.0).
I do miss flash in my browser a bit, but that will come soon. I definitely do NOT miss the capacitive buttons on the bottom (a requirement for pre-Honeycomb devices)...it was terribly annoying to be enjoying a video or reading a document and having to be careful with the way I held so as not to accidentally press one of those buttons.
Also, the location of the stereo speakers on the Xoom is so much more sensible than the speaker on the G-Tab, where, once again, if you weren't holding it 'just-so' the sound would be muted by the palm of your hand.
**I have yet to significantly miss the SD card or flash. I do wish we could permanently set the UA string on the stock browser though, and I'm looking forward to the Citrix Receiver being updated for Honeycomb**
For me, flash, UA string, and Citrix will make this device a real killer, and it's good to know they will all be coming very soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. It's definitely a neutered Android phone...but it stills does everything I need it to do for a portable device. I would probably feel different if it was my only tablet and I didn't already have an iPad for the past year that's had Pulse, the new CNN app, plus too many games that I have spent a fortune on!
Is Word with Friends optimized for the Xoom? A friend brought her husband's Xoom in for me to play with and we downloaded it and the letters were cut off. i thought it was under the tablet optimized section.
I am eyeing the wifi Xoom simply because I prefer Android to iOS but not having Netflix, Hulu, and my games might be too much to give up. Hopefully we'll see more advancement with the Android tablets.

Acer A500 disapointment ...

Hello, I just bought an Acer A500, this is my first Android device (I own an iphone 3gs).
But I am very dispointed by its speed. I was hoping it would be as fast and smooth (at least !) as my old iphone 3gs but it's not ... When you scroll a web page it's not smooth, whatever the web browser I tried, even single web page as Google !
The only smooth scrolls are when you use the photo browser or when you scroll through the icons pages. For the rest, even the Android Market app, it's not smooth at all.
So is there any optimisation we can do to let the A500 display everything smoother, or is it just an Android 3.0 problem which may be corrected in a future release ?
Thanks

The coming Android OS 3.1 will be better. The update including the browser stability and smoothness.
.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

Thanks, I just hope now the 3.1 will come quickly to the A500 and that it will really be smoother ...

My experience with the A500 is very fluid. I find that browsing to be "fast & smooth" as well. So, I'm left scratching my head that your receiving a better browsing experience on a 3GS. Could you upload a video sample on youtube? Some people have reported wifi issues with their device and that could be the culprit to your browsing experience. See if coming in close proximity of your wifi AP improves your browsing experience. If so then search this forum for what others have done to resolve the wifi issue. I am not having an issue so I have not further investigated the wifi issue.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

The browsing experience is a pain in the ass... but that is not from ACER it's from honeycomb...
the stock browser is still unstable and buggy and not support HTML5 and CSS3 as promissed...
and some function supported already by Iphone (field url and email for input do not trigger the good keyboard)
no smooth animation on javascript it s choppy and lost a lot a frame...
-- EDITED --
When I say a pain in the ass I mean, only if we want make or build animated javascript website
http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com
this should be SMOOTH...or maybe I expect too much from "high-end" tablet dual-core.
HTML form field url/email
Issue16401 : http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=16401
SenchaMobile.
http://dev.sencha.com/deploy/touch/examples/kitchensink
-- animations ... choppy and not smooth at all...
-- Buttons ... rounded are... weirdly rendered but that is not a real issues from the android, but probably from webkit or more from also sencha methods.. but still
flickering on any page change...
you can see this flickering also when you are on form fields
-- FEEDBACK --
I do not mean anything wrong, I said before that Android 3.0 is young and will grow up by time with better and better things to come I love android and I love Acer Tablet, really good products
-- 3.1 --
it's come in this month "confirmed by Acer Thailand" but no final date yet...
So far my disapointment are not same
I just see the UI improvement on Samsung Galaxy 8.6... it's so nice the UI is sweeeeet
the status bar, with the turn on/off many things...
the fast app launcher on the bottom... WoOow sweet...
I hope we will got some flavor of it
IMPORTANT:
I own 2 tablets Acer A500
I own 2 Liquid Metal S120

You should probably return it. Nobody has yet had these issues, so it might be something wrong with your tablet.

@bec07 : who ?

You and the OP.

It is important to note that not all websites are created equal. I have fast and smooth experiences with some sites and horrible one with others. There are too many variables from code quality, embedded media and offsite advertising, amount of content on a given page etc to truly quantify a 'good' or 'bad' browsing experience.
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. Some of it has to do with the browser, some has to do with the page you're loading.

gammaRascal said:
It is important to note that not all websites are created equal. I have fast and smooth experiences with some sites and horrible one with others. There are too many variables from code quality, embedded media and offsite advertising, amount of content on a given page etc to truly quantify a 'good' or 'bad' browsing experience.
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. Some of it has to do with the browser, some has to do with the page you're loading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, google.com is fast for me, but this site xda is very slow.

I use Dolphin HD browser... faster and more features.

Basicly all tablets are identical at this point. Some thinner, some thicker but only one manufacturer was smart enough to add the full size USB port.
Since the hardware is identical and it really packs quite a punch those issues should not happen. It would be best they check with their retailer or inconspicuously go to try out another A500.

Bec07 said:
Basicly all tablets are identical at this point. Some thinner, some thicker but only one manufacturer was smart enough to add the full size USB port.
Since the hardware is identical and it really packs quite a punch those issues should not happen. It would be best they check with their retailer or inconspicuously go to try out another A500.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 2 tablet and both are identical so I should change all tablet... naaaa don't think so.
I do think the 3.1 will remove some flickering glitch, and smooth maybe the javascript animation and css animation stuff. but for sure some website are poorly coded or got a DOM overloaded that eat the memory.
I do compare Sencha Touch website between iPad 1 and Acer A500... sad that run smoother on the old old iPad rather than on the new A500
but read really, I said the honeycomb and android is still young and buggy and will be better day after day because of the active community and the open mind of the code. do not interpret or miss understand.
It's a fact that browsing is not that smooth that should be, but it's already good.
now have to become the BEST.
(someone told me on the galaxy S II the browser was.... too fast for rendering it's tooooo good, but I didn't check about flickering or else)

I would have to agree with the first post, the web browsing experience is not as nice as iOS in regards to smoothness/scrolling, comapred to my iphone4 and former ipad1, but its not that bad either.
looking forward to 3.1.

sencha was developed with iPhone in mind, that's not really a valid comparison.

sollie said:
Agree, google.com is fast for me, but this site xda is very slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just change the theme to xda classic and here you go

Today I checked xoom 3.1 videos on youtube, and I'm still disapointed ...
Browsing the web is faster but still not as smooth as it should be.
And not only the web, also the other apps were not 100% fluid.
I don't know if I will wait until the 3.1 comes to the A500 ... I may sell it quick (only owned for 2 days !) and buy an iPad. And believe it or not : yesterday I have been to the hospital because of an epilleptic crisis I did while using the A500, because of the non-smooth scrollings ...
My point of view is that a pad experience seems magic when it's 100% fluid, without this the pad experience seems not far from a laptop experience, which is not what I was searching for.

New android users always feel that. U can easily change ur the launchers such as Launcher Pro which is very smooth and fast in my opinion. There are tweaks around for you to look for and learn while experiencing Android =)
dizzy33 said:
Hello, I just bought an Acer A500, this is my first Android device (I own an iphone 3gs).
But I am very dispointed by its speed. I was hoping it would be as fast and smooth (at least !) as my old iphone 3gs but it's not ... When you scroll a web page it's not smooth, whatever the web browser I tried, even single web page as Google !
The only smooth scrolls are when you use the photo browser or when you scroll through the icons pages. For the rest, even the Android Market app, it's not smooth at all.
So is there any optimisation we can do to let the A500 display everything smoother, or is it just an Android 3.0 problem which may be corrected in a future release ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Ipads have had probably What? 50 updates. A500 had one so far. I have the A500 and my wife's has the Ipad. I think I updated my wife Ipad 3 times since Christmas ( hour or longer updates ) Give it some more updates and the A500 will shine. The way both Tablets are now if I had to sell one of them it would be the Ipad. The only thing I like better about my wife's Ipad is, I can plug it directly into our digital camera and get pictures real fast, but you also have to buy the 30.00 adapter to do this and now you have something more to lose and carry around. JM2C

This is the difference with Apple : with Apple it works fine out of the box, of course a few bugs are corrected in firmware updates but these bug do not avoid you to use your pad.
With Android I feel like in the bad days of Windows mobile : you have to wait for the manufacturer promeses before being able to use your pad properly, but most of the time windows mobile devices never worked as expected ... That's the problem of having one operating system for hundred of devices with different hardwares.
I would be very happy to keep my A500 mainly because of the included usb port, but also because of the price and the fact that Android is more "open", if only Acer would have given us a 3.1 release date I would feel better.
Edit : this time it's sure, I will sell it !!! A current bug let me type very slow on the keyboard, this is the last bug I will accept ! Another big problem has been found : the button bar on the bottom of the screen : I often touch it while using the A500 which freezes the screen ....
I guess I will wait for 3 or 4 more years before going back to Android ! For now I'll stay with Apple.
Thanks anyway to all of you !

So, from reading here im assuming don't buy the Tab.

I mean just from browsing here I am most likely not getting the 10.1. How come there is close to no good things being said? It's like everyone on here has problems with the SGT 10.1....

jamaicansolja said:
I mean just from browsing here I am most likely not getting the 10.1. How come there is close to no good things being said? It's like everyone on here has problems with the SGT 10.1....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because it's in the human nature to whine about stuff that doesn't work right.
So the complaints you see here is not from the majority of Tab owners, just the few that are having some kind of problem with it. Don't read too much in to it.

zaphyr said:
Because it's in the human nature to whine about stuff that doesn't work right.
So the complaints you see here is not from the majority of Tab owners, just the few that are having some kind of problem with it. Don't read too much in to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The smartest way to purchase tech is to NOT read review's but to read review's from peer's like myself.
I am most likely buying one regardless but thinking closely of getting my Xoom back.
IDC About SD/HDMI Ports..
I do however care about the Lag I am seeing on YouTube vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho72WJVEaSg
Is your tab not laggy?

jamaicansolja said:
The smartest way to purchase tech is to NOT read review's but to read review's from peer's like myself.
I am most likely buying one regardless but thinking closely of getting my Xoom back.
IDC About SD/HDMI Ports..
I do however care about the Lag I am seeing on YouTube vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho72WJVEaSg
Is your tab not laggy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in Europe, so I won't get mine until the end of June. Hopefully.
Like you, I don't think the SD/HDMI ports are imortant. I'm not worried about the lag either. I'll be fixed either in an official update, or by rooting and installing a custom rom.

laggy is only the damn honeycomb-sucker-launcher! On 3.0.1 laggy as ****... on 3.1 just laggy... but not so bad as 3.0.1.
Solution:
ADW-Launcher-EX!!!!
No Lags... and every widget... i mean every widget is now resizable. More space on screen... etc.
It completely changes the feel of honeycomb.
Try it out... its an honeycomb-issue not an tab-issue.

Super-S said:
laggy is only the damn honeycomb-sucker-launcher! On 3.0.1 laggy as ****... on 3.1 just laggy... but not so bad as 3.0.1.
Solution:
ADW-Launcher-EX!!!!
No Lags... and every widget... i mean every widget is now resizable. More space on screen... etc.
It completely changes the feel of honeycomb.
Try it out... its an honeycomb-issue not an tab-issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but does it fix the video-lag that you get on all the tabs? I like HC 3.1 but it treats me like a beta tester, same with all the apps.

jamaicansolja said:
The smartest way to purchase tech is to NOT read review's but to read review's from peer's like myself.
I am most likely buying one regardless but thinking closely of getting my Xoom back.
IDC About SD/HDMI Ports..
I do however care about the Lag I am seeing on YouTube vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho72WJVEaSg
Is your tab not laggy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Live Wallpaper + 6 apps running?
Common guys, this videos was make for apple fã-boys... ridiculous....

I bought mine on Friday. I haven't noticed any lag to the degree in that video. In fact it seldom lags at all.
I did have a dead pixel. I exchanged the tab and this new one is perfect.
The only downer to this thing is that my macbook doesn't recognize it yet. Apple and Samsung not playing nice together. Can you imagine that?

actually there's more issues on the transformer forum. i'm on my 3rd due to quality control issues.
lag is a real issue on my gt101. the input seems to occur maybe a half second behind my finger. very annoying when scrolling web pages. this isn't a honeycomb issue as the xoom and tf don't exhibit this behavior.
also, the gt101 seems to randomly screw up xda bookmarks. i've turned off google sync and it's still screwing them up. neither the xoom or tf does this with syncing. and someone else pointed out that it does it on another samsung device. never had the problem with my gt7 since i've never used the stock browser on it. but hc stock browser is so nice that i prefer it over the 3rd party browsers.

You also have to consider different development teams. Maybe the xoom and asus developers found that bug before they released it. Most of the issues that you're seeing are software related. I wouldn't, not, buy the tablet because of that. When roms start rolling out, lag fixed kernels, etc its going to be a beautiful world. Samsung probably didn't spend too much time on the stuff launcher because they are spending their time on touchwiz. So would guess that's the reason that bug is still there.

X10D3 said:
You also have to consider different development teams. Maybe the xoom and asus developers found that bug before they released it. Most of the issues that you're seeing are software related. I wouldn't, not, buy the tablet because of that. When roms start rolling out, lag fixed kernels, etc its going to be a beautiful world. Samsung probably didn't spend too much time on the stuff launcher because they are spending their time on touchwiz. So would guess that's the reason that bug is still there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right.
And generally speaking, don't forget that only the people who have bugs write in blogs. All the others are happy and we don't read about them.

jamaicansolja said:
I do however care about the Lag I am seeing on YouTube vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho72WJVEaSg
Is your tab not laggy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm experiencing a small lag on my launcher aswell but my 3.1 Transformer was the same. I believe it's a HC related issue and hopefully it will be fixed in a future update

For what it's worth despite the lag I was experiencing in that video I made I still am enjoying the tab and would recommend it. It's noticeably smoother now after going into recovery and doing a complete wiPe. Not sure what the issue was but I can't seem to reproduce the same amount of lag anymore.

I get the keyboard lag and some issues with the market but nothing of any real significance. This reminds me exactly of the release of the Captivate. Amazing device that was absolute **** for the the first three or four months because of lack of accessories and mediocre performing 2.1 eclair. As soon as devs started ripping into the phone it was like night and day, phone was easily twice as responsive (obviously subjective) after some custom rom goodness. Then finally accessories, mainly cases, came out and by the four month mark the launch of the captivate was finally complete. SO yes Samsung are absolutely horrible at launching new devices, some may call it them trying to drum up hype but its really just them being the morons they are. That said, they usually make a great product that has one fairly sizable flaw but is still better than any of the products it competes with.

Like the galaxy, but will wait until bugs are worked out first, than decide on a purchase. Too many issues at launch, which is now the norm for all the tabs that are out, and that includes the IPad 2 with screen issues.
3.1 is still in need of lots of work, and 3.5 would be better if ever released this year. Too bad, was looking forward to this tab, but now I'll wait and read up on the users reviews for awhile longer.
Good luck early adopters

i have my 10.1v for about a month now. i don't have an problems or complaints, except for the poor battery life compared to an ipad (but battery ist still good though).

I have had a really good experience so far with my SGT 10.1. The keyboard lag is fixable by turning off haptic and changing my keyboard to either a SlideIT or Thumbs.
I will also say that the HC launcher in general is very laggy and I'm considering going with ADW or LauncherPro. For videos I use Freemake Video converter (free!) and Mobo Player and I have no issues at all. I got into the habit of converting all my media anyway because of my iPad not being able to play my avi's.
Also, live wallpapers kill this device... I wonder if the lag is an OpenGL issue?

X10D3 said:
You also have to consider different development teams. Maybe the xoom and asus developers found that bug before they released it. Most of the issues that you're seeing are software related. I wouldn't, not, buy the tablet because of that. When roms start rolling out, lag fixed kernels, etc its going to be a beautiful world. Samsung probably didn't spend too much time on the stuff launcher because they are spending their time on touchwiz. So would guess that's the reason that bug is still there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xoom update to 3.1 did come directly from Google, so i doubt Motorola had much to do with it. Looking at the GT10.1 videos, it seems to me that Samsung has made some small tweaks and this has caused some problems that the other 3.1 tablets don't have.

Be careful, only Xoom bought in US.
Non-US Xoom owners are still on 3.01 with promised to be updated in couple of months (Source: Moto forum).
poisike said:
Xoom update to 3.1 did come directly from Google, so i doubt Motorola had much to do with it. Looking at the GT10.1 videos, it seems to me that Samsung has made some small tweaks and this has caused some problems that the other 3.1 tablets don't have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

TheBigSaxon said:
I have had a really good experience so far with my SGT 10.1. The keyboard lag is fixable by turning off haptic and changing my keyboard to either a SlideIT or Thumbs.
...
Also, live wallpapers kill this device... I wonder if the lag is an OpenGL issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could very well be an OpenGL issue. I noticed when I turned off OpenGL rendering in the browser my input lag disappeared. And Thumbs is pretty much the greatest keyboard for a tablet evar.
To the OP, I love the **** outa my GT. Played with a friends Xoom but disliked the bulky feeling of the device. The GT is svelte, smooth, and sexy.

samsung galaxy 10.1 major disappointment

I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks. I sold my IPAD 2 to purchase as I have always been a fan of android phones. So far, I find the galaxy to be very unpolished. For example, the screens lag when navigating and apps force close to much. When I scroll up and down on the UI, its not smooth as butter like the IPAD. When I change the screen orientation, its very choppy. The IPAD runs circles around this device. I wish it wasnt the case as I wanted to like it. Even the on screen keyboard is hard to type on. Try copying and pasting a sentence. The arrows you use to drag across the words never line up with what is being clicked. I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience unless you are in denial and I am not talking about the river. Maybe Ice Cream will fix some of the issues. For now, the tablet serves as a perfect example of what happens when technology is rushed to the market without consideration of quality.
I feel better now.
Lance

Take the time to tweak your device with everything available on these forums, it becomes an entirely different device.
Sent from my Samsung Fascinate

lancer123 said:
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks. I sold my IPAD 2 to purchase as I have always been a fan of android phones. So far, I find the galaxy to be very unpolished. For example, the screens lag when navigating and apps force close to much. When I scroll up and down on the UI, its not smooth as butter like the IPAD. When I change the screen orientation, its very choppy. The IPAD runs circles around this device. I wish it wasnt the case as I wanted to like it. Even the on screen keyboard is hard to type on. Try copying and pasting a sentence. The arrows you use to drag across the words never line up with what is being clicked. I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience unless you are in denial and I am not talking about the river. Maybe Ice Cream will fix some of the issues. For now, the tablet serves as a perfect example of what happens when technology is rushed to the market without consideration of quality.
I feel better now.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if you are trolling here, but eh, I'm bored so I'll bite.
Those of us who find the Tab to be a pleasant experience must be in denial huh? Don't you think that's a pretty presumptuous and arrogant statement? How do you know what my experience with it has been? Or anyone else's for that matter?
I would usually sit here and try to help you solve your lagginess issue, maybe seeing if you have some sort of rouge process going on or if you are even on the latest firmware. Maybe point you to some of the great custom ROMs the developers here have given us. But, nope. You speak for everyone and everyone must be having the same ****ty experience as you, and if we say we don't we must be lying.
I will tell you though that my experience has been fantastic. The only time I get lag on the homescreen is when I have a live wallpaper up. I've never had any browser lag or lag anywhere else. I have a ton of widgets on my screens too. No lag. Of course though I'm totally lying, but you knew that already right?
I'm finished being sarcastic. Honestly if you aren't happy with the device, go sell it and get an Ipad again. Nobody is stopping you. The Tab is a fantastic product and I would go so far as to say it is the best tablet on the market as of this very moment. But it is not for everybody, especially for people who have no idea what they are doing.
Posting threads like this serves no purpose other than being a troll and drawing the ire of members like myself.

lancer123 said:
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks. I sold my IPAD 2 to purchase as I have always been a fan of android phones. So far, I find the galaxy to be very unpolished. For example, the screens lag when navigating and apps force close to much. When I scroll up and down on the UI, its not smooth as butter like the IPAD. When I change the screen orientation, its very choppy. The IPAD runs circles around this device. I wish it wasnt the case as I wanted to like it. Even the on screen keyboard is hard to type on. Try copying and pasting a sentence. The arrows you use to drag across the words never line up with what is being clicked. I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience unless you are in denial and I am not talking about the river. Maybe Ice Cream will fix some of the issues. For now, the tablet serves as a perfect example of what happens when technology is rushed to the market without consideration of quality.
I feel better now.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine a couple weeks back too, and my experiences are similar to yours. I still can't understand how a dual core device can be this laggy! I'm hoping its all due to the Samsung bloatware, so I'm going to load up a custom ROM over the weekend and see how that goes... you should try it too
I really like the additional screen space coming from a 4.2" Xperia Arc, and Honeycomb is a lot zippier now than it was back in April when I had the Xoom for a couple of weeks. I still believe its a better tablet than the iPad2 though. That thing seems so zippy because all it is is a magnified iPhone. There's almost nothing running in the background which gives it the appearance of being a lot quicker and better battery life. Load it up with widgets and lets compare them then.
My biggest problem though, is the lack of a good pdf app. I've tried tons of them and they are all really slow to load, very jerky pinch to zoom, and slow scrolling. Hope this improves with ICS
And to the poster above this, I don't get why you even bothered posting if you're going to be so incredibly unhelpful

lancer123 said:
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks... I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience...
I feel better now.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lance,
I have watched my brother in law's ipad closely, and you are right. It is faster and more responsive (once tweaked) than my SGT was out of the box. However, the others are right too.
I have rooted and tweaked my SGT and it now makes my ios friends raise their eyebrows. You happily partied all over your ipad, making many changes suggested on user sites like this one. Now you need to do the same with your SGT. If you are unable or unwilling to do that, you are not an idiot or a molester of small animals, you are just one of those people that the ipad was designed for. So get another one, and enjoy it.
I prefer my Android gadgets, because they are more flexible. I am not locked into iTunes, and I have access to my 650GB music library that is not as compressed as AAC. I have a FREE SDK that works rather well, when i want to write my own apps. There are a few paid apps that I depend upon for day to day stuff, just like I would for iOs devices. For me, and many of the others in this form, that is what they want.
Sent from a distant planet with the aid of my towel.

lancer123 said:
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks. I sold my IPAD 2 to purchase as I have always been a fan of android phones. So far, I find the galaxy to be very unpolished. For example, the screens lag when navigating and apps force close to much. When I scroll up and down on the UI, its not smooth as butter like the IPAD. When I change the screen orientation, its very choppy. The IPAD runs circles around this device. I wish it wasnt the case as I wanted to like it. Even the on screen keyboard is hard to type on. Try copying and pasting a sentence. The arrows you use to drag across the words never line up with what is being clicked. I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience unless you are in denial and I am not talking about the river. Maybe Ice Cream will fix some of the issues. For now, the tablet serves as a perfect example of what happens when technology is rushed to the market without consideration of quality.
I feel better now.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand how you feel, and I felt the same way when I first handled the SGT 8.9 the UI lag was horrendous .. I felt the product manager of the device should be sacked (or worse done to him) for ever allowing such a device out the door in such state. To make matters worse for me, there was an ipad close by and the UI flow was like watching man utd beat arsenal 8-2 .. I promptly returned the device.
However my opinion has since change since coming here lots of people have filled me in with some tweaks and work around which resolves most of the laggy issue. (You can check out the SGT 8.9 Q & A section its a sticky under this section for people experience with the device)
First of if you can't be bothered to root your device, try the ADW launcher ex, everyone who tried that said its greatly improves the performance and eliminates the lag issue.
You can also if you are feeling adventurous root the device. And install some of the numerous roms around.
just try and take advantage of the open nature and make it yours. Soon ipad owners would be looking at your tab and feeling the envy.
Just my 2 cents
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

Please go get your ipad back dude. I have none of the issues you speak of. This thread is a total waste. I don't even believe you own a tab.

By saying "you like Android phones" I'm assuming you mean in comparison to the iPhone. Most of the same issues you’re experiencing in an Android vs. iPad tablet comparison apply to a phone comparison also so your statement's kind of confusing.
iOS is so "buttery smooth" because it's locked down like a prison with Apple exerting Orwellian control over the entire eco-system. I bought my G-Tab and paid more than an equivalent iPad because, for what I do, the collection of individual apps works better than the homogenous equivalents on the iPad. And I did that knowing the iPad had a better display and that the UI and navigation were smoother and more mature.
This forum is fascinating because of the disparity in experiences everyone has. I've had two G-Tab's (Wi-Fi and 3G) and never had a force close on either and I have over 50 apps installed. There's occasional stutter and lagginess but I'd say it appears (for me) less than 5% of the time. One huge difference between iOS and Android is that Android, with its limitless ability to be tweaked, can get hosed by people using badly written apps and the use of memory managers, task killers, battery monitors and the like. Every XDA forum I participate in has people *****ing about some function being hosed and then go on to elaborate about all the crap they've done to their device and ****ty low-rent apps they're using. And they don’t understand why their phone’s getting crappy battery life and has tons of issues no one else seems to be experiencing. I guess freedom comes at a price and it can be abused.
I've had a G-Tab in one form or another since August and have been really satisfied with it. I took my new 3G version on a trip over the weekend and it performed flawlessly and got fantastic battery life with 3G active continuously and download speeds of 8MB in TX (vs. less than 1MB for an iPad). I sat across from someone using an iPad on the flight home last night. The local video he was playing was gorgeous. Compared to mine, his WSJ app looked like crap as did Solitaire and a bunch of other stuff I saw him use. Meanwhile, I was streaming Hulu, HBOGO, and TV shows from my home server using the planes Wi-Fi. I can also play music I have stored on my home server, the Amazon cloud, or from the 2K songs I store locally using my $9.99 Rhapsody monthly subscription. All while reading magazines and newspapers using Next Issue and Press Reader. I’d gladly trade options and versatility for “buttery smooth” any day. iOS is great for a subset of device owners because of its constraints and consistency. But those restrictions are why I chose Android. Android can become smoother through s/w and h/w evolution but iOS will never become more open. Hopefully OP bought his G-Tab somewhere with a liberal return policy so he can return it.

BarryH_GEG said:
By saying "you like Android phones" I'm assuming you mean in comparison to the iPhone. Most of the same issues you’re experiencing in an Android vs. iPad tablet comparison apply to a phone comparison also so your statement's kind of confusing.
iOS is so "buttery smooth" because it's locked down like a prison with Apple exerting Orwellian control over the entire eco-system. I bought my G-Tab and paid more than an equivalent iPad because, for what I do, the collection of individual apps works better than the homogenous equivalents on the iPad. And I did that knowing the iPad had a better display and that the UI and navigation were smoother and more mature.
This forum is fascinating because of the disparity in experiences everyone has. I've had two G-Tab's (Wi-Fi and 3G) and never had a force close on either and I have over 50 apps installed. There's occasional stutter and lagginess but I'd say it appears (for me) less than 5% of the time. One huge difference between iOS and Android is that Android, with its limitless ability to be tweaked, can get hosed by people using badly written apps and the use of memory managers, task killers, battery monitors and the like. Every XDA forum I participate in has people *****ing about some function being hosed and then go on to elaborate about all the crap they've done to their device and ****ty low-rent apps they're using. And they don’t understand why their phone’s getting crappy battery life and has tons of issues no one else seems to be experiencing. I guess freedom comes at a price and it can be abused.
I've had a G-Tab in one form or another since August and have been really satisfied with it. I took my new 3G version on a trip over the weekend and it performed flawlessly and got fantastic battery life with 3G active continuously and download speeds of 8MB in TX (vs. less than 1MB for an iPad). I sat across from someone using an iPad on the flight home last night. The local video he was playing was gorgeous. Compared to mine, his WSJ app looked like crap as did Solitaire and a bunch of other stuff I saw him use. Meanwhile, I was streaming Hulu, HBOGO, and TV shows from my home server using the planes Wi-Fi. I can also play music I have stored on my home server, the Amazon cloud, or from the 2K songs I store locally using my $9.99 Rhapsody monthly subscription. All while reading magazines and newspapers using Next Issue and Press Reader. I’d gladly trade options and versatility for “buttery smooth” any day. iOS is great for a subset of device owners because of its constraints and consistency. But those restrictions are why I chose Android. Android can become smoother through s/w and h/w evolution but iOS will never become more open. Hopefully OP bought his G-Tab somewhere with a liberal return policy so he can return it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stuff you speak of is why I have ran Linux exclusively on my PC for close to 5 years now. Yet I think the OP has a point and was just letting out steam. I too was extremely disappointed when I handled the galaxy tab (in my case it was the 8.9) right from boot the experience was horrendous and the UI lagged SOO much it was embarrassing. This first impression was a real turn off for me and I can understand the feeling of someone who gets a device with such awesome hardware only be bugged down with software. Sure you can always improve with tweaks and mods but if android is ever gonna replicate its success on mobile on tablets. Then the out of the box experience most be killer. Having and awesome out of the box experience and ability to further tweak should not be mutually exclusive. The experience I got on my galaxy s2 even with default rom was exquisite. Just breath taking. Even without Modding or installing a custom rom. That's what I expected from honeycomb. Hopefully most of this out of the box issues would be fixed with honeycomb 3.2 and ICS.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

I must agree with OP. Its a f****g ambaresment how a product can be released in the state it was when it was in the box. Now after tweaking and rooting and flashing and using it for a couple of months its useable. But it still lags, not all the time , but try installing something form market and then go to homescreen, right then its laggy as hell.
But we all know this by now, so i agree with the rest of you that we have no need for this thread. And if OP just read a little before buying he would have found this info about the tab. Anyways welcome hope you get your tab sorted.

nickwarn said:
I must agree with OP. Its a f****g ambaresment how a product can be released in the state it was when it was in the box. Now after tweaking and rooting and flashing and using it for a couple of months its useable. But it still lags, not all the time , but try installing something form market and then go to homescreen, right then its laggy as hell.
But we all know this by now, so i agree with the rest of you that we have no need for this thread. And if OP just read a little before buying he would have found this info about the tab. Anyways welcome hope you get your tab sorted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same experience here.... I've even rooted my tab and it did improve but not as much as I would of liked, this was a month ago though, so i don't know if anything better has comed out. I've thought about getting an iPad but..... I just can't if it can't play flash.... How the hell could you own a tablet and not watch a simple flash video. So if anyone can give me advice on how to make my 10.1 as smooth as some of you have said, then please do tell me how. I love my Gtab but the lag does really bother me enough to have had to remove all my widgets....
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

shoo troll.

Klk450 said:
Same experience here.... I've even rooted my tab and it did improve but not as much as I would of liked, this was a month ago though, so i don't know if anything better has comed out. I've thought about getting an iPad but..... I just can't if it can't play flash.... How the hell could you own a tablet and not watch a simple flash video. So if anyone can give me advice on how to make my 10.1 as smooth as some of you have said, then please do tell me how. I love my Gtab but the lag does really bother me enough to have had to remove all my widgets....
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root your tab is only the first step. You need to flash custom rom after you root your tab, then only you can feel the difference.
I just got my tab last week, wifi only version. I can say I'm really satisfied with the performance and I love my tab. The basic steps are:
1. root your tab
2. flash custom rom
That's all you need to do to feel the difference. You can ignore some of the gimmicks, for instance supercharger, overclock kernel and etc that have been mentioned if you have no freaking idea what they are about at the moment. You will pick them up along the way just like I did.
The one tip that everyone here would tell you - READ THE FORUM!
For instance, the first sticky post in the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android Development is a good read and good resource to get you started. Here's the link if you have no idea where it is (Seriously?): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1171089

lancer123 said:
I have owned the samsung galaxy 10.1 for approx 2 weeks. I sold my IPAD 2 to purchase as I have always been a fan of android phones. So far, I find the galaxy to be very unpolished. For example, the screens lag when navigating and apps force close to much. When I scroll up and down on the UI, its not smooth as butter like the IPAD. When I change the screen orientation, its very choppy. The IPAD runs circles around this device. I wish it wasnt the case as I wanted to like it. Even the on screen keyboard is hard to type on. Try copying and pasting a sentence. The arrows you use to drag across the words never line up with what is being clicked. I am not sure how anybody finds this device to be a pleasant experience unless you are in denial and I am not talking about the river. Maybe Ice Cream will fix some of the issues. For now, the tablet serves as a perfect example of what happens when technology is rushed to the market without consideration of quality.
I feel better now.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you on most counts, except that I don't have any issues with the onscreen keyboard and don't get force closes. There are some things you can do to improve the user experience (alternate launchers, overclocking etc), however it still won't feel like the iPad.
That being said, there are things you can do with the tablet out of the box which you can't do with an iPad:
- Adobe Flash support
- Emulation apps availability (SNES, DOS, Scumm)
- File / Directory browsing
- UI customization
- Non-market / store applications installation
While I would love the overall UI performance to be on par with the iPad, given a choice between the two I would rather have the above functionality instead. There is also the possibility of Android's UI performance improving in the future with all this functionality retained. In case of Apple, apart from limited UI customization perhaps, the other stuff is just not going to be available ever.
PS: And all that's just out of the box, if you root your device there's some far more interesting stuff you can do with the tablet!
---------- Post added at 01:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:57 PM ----------
pngface said:
My biggest problem though, is the lack of a good pdf app. I've tried tons of them and they are all really slow to load, very jerky pinch to zoom, and slow scrolling. Hope this improves with ICS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have probably tried it already, but EZ PDF is pretty good. I am comparing it to GoodReader on the iPad and I don't have any issues with loading / scrolling / flipping / resizing.
Of course, this maybe dependent on the size and content of the PDFs you are using, so YMMV -- I mostly read book-sized documents, mostly text, and it works fine for me.

I recently bought a GalaxyTab and I have to confirm, it is quite laggy - In comparison to an iPad.
There are several things which can drastically improve the situation:
Use ADW Launcher EX
Custom ROM, Like Task650/Phantom Extreme Stock
Overclock (although, this didn't change a lot)
I found that the first two points are the most important. ADW Launcher makes the whole Homescreen and Applauncher absolutely smooth, just like on an iPad. And no, the stock launcher isn't.
It's great how many possibilites we have with Android, but be honest - I'd rather have ICS without any new features, but just great performance increases. Thats why I switched to Windows Phone in the first place - I don't want apple, but I want smooth scrolling, smooth transitions. And now, just because Android has much more possibilites doesn't mean it has the right to be slow and choppy. Take a look at the Windows 8 Developer Preview. My god, this isn't even an ALPHA and boy it's SO SMOOTH, I cried almost when I saw that.
The only reason I bought my Galaxy Tab is, that Microsoft still needs about a year until their first tablets are out - And I hate waiting
So please Google, get your Team together and tell them to START OPTIMIZING.
PS:
ezPDF is quite good - But the UI is horrible, and I miss the feature to insert Pages into a PDF. Mandano seems a lot more polished and faster, but misses a lot of annotation features.

I agree with the original poster. My tab is rooted, custom rom, adw, etc. My wife's ipad is a far smoother experience than this tablet. Would I switch back to the ipad prison? Not in a million years. My tablet does so much more than the ipad. If an example is needed, how about my choice of swype or thumb keyboard.

root your tab and wait for an ICS port... ICS is said to have hardware acceleration. That is the only thing Honeycomb lacks and that is why its not as smooth as the iPad...
OR
Flash a custom ROM such as Overcome 1.2.1 (didnt like 1.2.2 or 1.2.3) or w/e other one suits you and then come back edit the OP with the overall news... don't judge this book by its cover and remember its NOT iOS

A newbie when rooting is involved but i was wondering if you could give me an idea of what tweaks you have made? i'm considering rooting my device but unsure of what i could do to make it better.

Cpt Streamline said:
A newbie when rooting is involved but i was wondering if you could give me an idea of what tweaks you have made? i'm considering rooting my device but unsure of what i could do to make it better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing a custom ROM is the big one, will make a huge difference. I am using Task650 & Phantom's "In Paris V4". I also installed pershoot's kernel and overclocked.

The experience
I love my Galaxy Tab in comparison to my previously owned iPad but the reason is simply because I like playing with roms and hacking to get the most of my device. On my iPad, I felt too restricted and forced to use software I didn't like. Yes, some of the apps are better on the iPad and yes, the interface is a bit smoother but it's nowhere near as attractive and it's far too limiting.
A friend of mine equated the iPad experience with being put in a padded room where he can't hurt himself and everything if fluffy and safe feeling. It made me laugh but somewhat sums up the experience. Personally, I'd rather not be spoon fed the experience but would rather create my own and make it about me.
My hope is that ICS will be a significant jump. realistically, Android tablet manufacturers should be trolling these forums for employees who can tweak up their software.. Why they don't do this, one will never know.
Either way, I don't think attacks on the Op are warranted. These forums are here for people to both vent and discuss like the adults we are.

Asus Transformer: second thoughts

This may be a slightly different post, since most of the users are big fans or / and happy users of Asus Transformer, but hear me out. For haters of long post – a brief summary of my post: the honeymoon’s with my tablet over, considering what to do now…
About 3 months ago I’ve sold my trusty Asus EEE PC 701 to replace it with Transformer, which I currently own. This was done after careful consideration and study of my needs and available products at the time. When choosing a replacement for EEE PC, my priorities were (beginning with the most important):
1. Fast browsing (waiting for EEE PC to boot became a headache) and emailing.
2. Similar productivity capabilities (I mostly work in Google Docs environment with occasional editing of normal documents and spreadsheets)
3. Occasional movies (EEE PC couldn’t handle 720p)
4. Showing pictures to friends (rare occasions)
5. Games, when there’s no work in sight.
When considering a replacement, I took into the account other devices – a better netbook, a smartphone, a normal laptop and, of course, a tablet, which I eventually chose (Transformer + dock keyboard). The start was pretty nice, until I’ve experienced full “features” of Android Honeycomb…
1. Browsing is not what I expected. In PC’s most browsers work the same, render pages in the same fashion, offer similar capabilities. In Android, most browsers are like day and night in some areas. E.g. only in 1 of 5 browsers I tried I was able to move between cells in Google Spreadsheets with my keys on the keyboard (other browsers moved the scroll bar). I’ve constantly encounter(ed) sites that recognized my tablet as a phone, redirecting me to a low resolution version. And by the way – without internet (I’m using the version without 3G) it’s rather useless.
2. Enough to say that a tablet is not meant to be used for a document editing. It’s basically a pain in the arse. Polaris app is more a WYSIWYG html editor than a document app, “Documents to go” app is let’s say a bit expensive. I’ve also did not know how hard it is to use copy-paste mechanism. I do use this in my editing a lot.
3. Movies also are a pickle. While PC can decode almost any format (by choosing a right decoder), Android can’t offer such capabilities. I have 5 different players, which I use to decode movies. Till now I didn’t encounter any movie that can be played in all 5 players, usually 1-2 players (sometimes – none) can open the movie. Subtitles (I watch anime sometimes) are also a headache. Didn’t know that earlier.
4. Picture showing is, let’s say, ok. But only after one update when Gallery app started to act properly, i.e. show pictures in an ascending fashion (before that I had to scroll to the end of the gallery to start showing pictures from the start).
5. Games… Well, what I found out that I simply hate trivial / casual games and the market is full of them. Angry birds / fruit ninja entertained me for one day only.
To make things worse, Google still doesn’t offer a separate search for tabled optimized apps and, most importantly, the market does not offer capabilities of filtering crapware. I found out that there are websites, rating apps in a proper way, but this is still a nightmare.
After this, I’ve tried to search for answers to solve the mentioned problems, but it seems the Android platform is still very young and it will take some time for it to become mature in the software area. By that time the hardware will be different and my current tablet will be let’s say pretty much useless. So keeping it and waiting for a miracle (I’ve thought that Android 4.0 could be a solution) may be not a viable solution… Unless you’ll convince me otherwise.
Rants aside, I’m considering to sell the tablet and buy a smartphone (maybe a HTC Desire S ?). Of course I won’t be able to edit documents or have a big screen for movies, but I hope having a great time with phone optimized apps, blazing fast boot times, better internet availability (I mean 3G).
Your opinions and suggestions about the current situation are very welcome. For me, it's a hard (and maybe an expensive) decision.
P.S. I’ve also considered buying a Windows 7 tablet (which would suit my needs), but found out that the user interface is still VERY hard to control with touches. I’ve also thought about waiting for a Windows 8 tablet, but it seems it won’t be able to run x86 programs, meaning an Android-like situation with little availability of useful software.

No offense, but after reading your post carefully I decided any reply I have is futile. You got the transformer with the wrong attitude. You've been using it with the wrong attitude. And you've been expecting things with ALL the wrong attitude.
It's best that you stick with a win 7 netbook or notebook.
PS - I have not touched my laptop since April. Between my PC at home and my transformer on-the-go, I have no complaint whatsoever. I see your complaints comparable to the complaints of someone who got a motorcycle intending to use it like a car.

goodintentions said:
No offense, but after reading your post carefully I decided any reply I have is futile. You got the transformer with the wrong attitude. You've been using it with the wrong attitude. And you've been expecting things with ALL the wrong attitude.
It's best that you stick with a win 7 netbook or notebook.
PS - I have not touched my laptop since April. Between my PC at home and my transformer on-the-go, I have no complaint whatsoever. I see your complaints comparable to the complaints of someone who got a motorcycle intending to use it like a car.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for an oppinion. Yes - my expectations were "something resembling a netbook with a hint of phone". But it's neither a phone, nor a netbook and the tasks I wanted it to do were very limited by the software, which I didn't take into account when considered buying a tablet...

i agree more or less. i owned a 701 too btw. i now own among others an eeepc 1015pem. but i use my transformer all the time. google editing is a bit awkward yes, especially with large docs, but google has his own application for that. it eases the pain a bit.
copy and paste, yes editing is not that easy. i own docs to go, but the user interface is not that intuitive. polaris seems to saves not always that good (it cant be opened with all others wordprocessors). open document format is not very easy to use.
but still i prefer transformer at work for all sort of reasons:
* battery, i can use the transformer (with dock) all day long, with no other hussle.
* it is cool
* boy is the transformer silent - i like that way more than i anticipated.
* the touchscreen, although not always that easy, i love it.
* being more in the cloud (dropbox with 50gb), gmail, and polaris/docs to go, calendar, google contacts, it all works together: fast and easy. i like that too.
* i like the looks, and the way the transformer feels.
* at work with dock, at home: mostly tablet: reading, viewing, surfing
btw i am used to use linux on my netbooks, win 7 moves like a snail.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium

I have to agree with GoodInte tions over there; which is ironic because the EeePC 1015PE Netbook that I havent touched since September, was bought in April .
For your needs Android is not effective, for me it is almost as effective as BSD or GNU/Linux; where you use gdocs I use programs that I can run in a Debian chroot or I use a PC, rather than try and use LibreOffice locally with X/VNC.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

For someone who took the time to write that thorough analysis, I would have thought you researched the TF with the same level of thoroughness. Everything you point out in your dissertation has been discussed in detail on this forum.

Yes.. exactly what Rumbleweed said. You said you bought this 3 months ago; then you got it around September, which was about 2 months after I got my transformer (if you got it right at the start). When I first got my tablet, I didn't look through any of the online stuff, but I did start about a week after getting it (to know how else I could improve it further, but I was pretty lucky as my B5 had no problems except for a slight creakiness on one side).
Anyway, by around 4.5 months ago, I already knew several points:
-browsing rendering had some issues, some of which was solved by hardware acceleration, etc. (although, I didn't really notice this as an issue until I looked online because my laptop is old and slower by far)
-document editing is a little flawed because typing lags behind the physical typing
-movies.. well, I saw lots of threads about not being able to play 720p except in Dice Player or something, but I don't really watch HD stuff often except maybe for tennis (btw, espn 360 worked perfectly and looked great for streaming)
-there are a lot of trivial games (I was disappointed with this one too, but I found the emulators soon after, so I haven't played much other trivial games except for the more addictive looking tower defense ones)
tl;dr: I don't understand how you didn't know this by the time you got it as you seem pretty thorough (as per your post). Good luck though, I wanted a Windows 7 tablet before in the past, but they're either expensive as hell or ugly looking as hell.. We just need Google and other tablet-making-companies to realize that tablets are for more than entertainment.

asdfuogh said:
I was pretty lucky as my B5 had no problems except for a slight creakiness on one side).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OT but I always thought it was just me and my B50 with that, on the right/starboard side. Just happy to have none of the serious problems I read about here lol.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Honestly, why not root and stick Ubuntu on there? I realize this would destroy the Android flavor, but that's obviously not what you're looking for.
Specifically:
1. How is not having 3G any different from your EEE PC with wifi? If you wanted the TF with 3G, there's a 3G version. Otherwise, I'm sure your mobile carrier will happily sell you a hotspot device and plan.
2. Do you have the dock? Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+X all work for me on the dock. As for an office suite, how about using GDocs? I know it's not as slick as MS Office or LibreOffice, but it's pretty functional.
3. Yeah, I've found that anime can be something of a pain at 720p and decoders aren't brilliant on Android. It's what happens when the majority of the population uses iTunes, Netflix and Hulu for their media, manufacturers get lazy. I really wish VLC would come to Android, with proper codec support (especially with ICS' per-app hardware acceleration capabilities).
4. You know there are non-Gallery photo viewer apps, right? That's the beauty of Android, EVERYTHING (especially if you have root ) can be replaced.
5. Have you looked at the TegraZone? Or some websites for game reviews? It's honestly like trying to find a game for PC, there's a lot of crap to wade through, even in non-casual games.

laikinasis said:
1. Browsing is not what I expected. In PC’s most browsers work the same, render pages in the same fashion, offer similar capabilities. In Android, most browsers are like day and night in some areas. E.g. only in 1 of 5 browsers I tried I was able to move between cells in Google Spreadsheets with my keys on the keyboard (other browsers moved the scroll bar). I’ve constantly encounter(ed) sites that recognized my tablet as a phone, redirecting me to a low resolution version. And by the way – without internet (I’m using the version without 3G) it’s rather useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried using Polaris Office with GDocs syncing? I know Polaris has some Google Docs support. Does the Android app for Google Docs work at all for you? As for the internet comment, how was your Eee PC any different? The TF and PC are the same in that regard. This isn't a Chromebook or anything...
laikinasis said:
3. Movies also are a pickle. While PC can decode almost any format (by choosing a right decoder), Android can’t offer such capabilities. I have 5 different players, which I use to decode movies. Till now I didn’t encounter any movie that can be played in all 5 players, usually 1-2 players (sometimes – none) can open the movie. Subtitles (I watch anime sometimes) are also a headache. Didn’t know that earlier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had no issues with media playback since Dice Player came out. It handles all of my 720p or smaller video no problem. Even scenes that were always an absolute ***** on my tablet, like high bitrate Big Bang Theory intro (that always raped it) run great in Dice.
laikinasis said:
4. Picture showing is, let’s say, ok. But only after one update when Gallery app started to act properly, i.e. show pictures in an ascending fashion (before that I had to scroll to the end of the gallery to start showing pictures from the start).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say better than okay, I love how it syncs pictures between all of my devices with Picasa.
laikinasis said:
5. Games… Well, what I found out that I simply hate trivial / casual games and the market is full of them. Angry birds / fruit ninja entertained me for one day only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So keep looking. There are plenty of pretty featured RPGs. Go look at Gameloft games. Most of them are kinda crappy, but definitely more than angry birds.
laikinasis said:
After this, I’ve tried to search for answers to solve the mentioned problems, but it seems the Android platform is still very young and it will take some time for it to become mature in the software area. By that time the hardware will be different and my current tablet will be let’s say pretty much useless. So keeping it and waiting for a miracle (I’ve thought that Android 4.0 could be a solution) may be not a viable solution… Unless you’ll convince me otherwise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhh.. just because Tegra 3 is coming out doesn't make tegra 2 any worse... the TF 1 is still amazing hardware.
laikinasis said:
Rants aside, I’m considering to sell the tablet and buy a smartphone (maybe a HTC Desire S ?). Of course I won’t be able to edit documents or have a big screen for movies, but I hope having a great time with phone optimized apps, blazing fast boot times, better internet availability (I mean 3G).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't currently have a smartphone? I'm far more productive with both. It's easy to pull out the phone for 5 minutes and check my email, read news, etc, but as soon as I need to reply to a client, the phone is absolutely useless and I pull out the TF. I tether my TF to my phone for 3G/4G anywhere. If I need to open a large PDF, spreadsheet, ppt, etc it's a pain to do it on the phone, but so much better on a tablet. Ebooks are also great on the TF, as is videos.
Other pros: super thin, battery life is simply *amazing* (I can be on it for 14 hours a day and it doesn't need a charge), quiet, no heat, great audio output for music/video with voodoo sound, touchscreen that lets me take complex math notes that would be hard to type quickly, allows me to draw out theories and ideas anywhere I am (I used this all the time for solving puzzles in video games, working out the answers to the google nexus twitter challenges), plus it turns into a freaking TABLET when you disconnect it (call it a gimmick all you want, it's still badass).
Sent from my Transformer TF101

asdfuogh said:
Anyway, by around 4.5 months ago, I already knew several points:
-browsing rendering had some issues, some of which was solved by hardware acceleration, etc. (although, I didn't really notice this as an issue until I looked online because my laptop is old and slower by far)
-document editing is a little flawed because typing lags behind the physical typing
-movies.. well, I saw lots of threads about not being able to play 720p except in Dice Player or something, but I don't really watch HD stuff often except maybe for tennis (btw, espn 360 worked perfectly and looked great for streaming)
-there are a lot of trivial games (I was disappointed with this one too, but I found the emulators soon after, so I haven't played much other trivial games except for the more addictive looking tower defense ones)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the silimilar time I did not know about:
1. Google market search (how it's hard to find a decent app or a tablet optimized app)
2. Copy paste issues (ctrl+c / ctrl+v is STILL not supported in many apps)
3. Video playback. It's rather annoying to use ~5 video players. 720p by itself is not an issue. Almost all players support native (hadware) decoding. I had more problems trying to open lower resolution movies in, I presume, less common containers / codecs.
4. Page rendering in browsing. I mean that different browsers may render the same page differently. This was an issue in pc world loooong time ago and it's now almost non-existent.
asdfuogh said:
We just need Google and other tablet-making-companies to realize that tablets are for more than entertainment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an interesting thought that I do relate.

Gary13579 said:
Have you tried using Polaris Office with GDocs syncing? I know Polaris has some Google Docs support. Does the Android app for Google Docs work at all for you? As for the internet comment, how was your Eee PC any different? The TF and PC are the same in that regard. This isn't a Chromebook or anything...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't know about Polaris GDocs support, thanks. It works rather how I expect it to work... Speaking about Google Docs - the most common task I do is writing grades to studens in a spreadsheet. In normal PC's, you click a cell, write something, click on another. In Google docs (and most browsers I tried on Android, except one, that is REALLY slow) you click a cell, edit it and must press "SUMBIT". It's a big setback, when you consider larger amounts of editing.
Gary13579 said:
I've had no issues with media playback since Dice Player came out. It handles all of my 720p or smaller video no problem. Even scenes that were always an absolute ***** on my tablet, like high bitrate Big Bang Theory intro (that always raped it) run great in Dice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use that player too. Lots of unopened files, like with other players. Again, it's not about the smoothness of the playback, it's about supporting different codecs / containers.
Gary13579 said:
I'd say better than okay, I love how it syncs pictures between all of my devices with Picasa.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you suggest an app, which would work like default Gallery app, but support inner folders ?
Gary13579 said:
So keep looking. There are plenty of pretty featured RPGs. Go look at Gameloft games. Most of them are kinda crappy, but definitely more than angry birds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me, I am looking
Gary13579 said:
You don't currently have a smartphone? I'm far more productive with both. It's easy to pull out the phone for 5 minutes and check my email, read news, etc, but as soon as I need to reply to a client, the phone is absolutely useless and I pull out the TF. I tether my TF to my phone for 3G/4G anywhere. If I need to open a large PDF, spreadsheet, ppt, etc it's a pain to do it on the phone, but so much better on a tablet. Ebooks are also great on the TF, as is videos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought about owning both of them. Maybe it's the solution I'm looking for, but now it seems that phone may replace most of the tablet functions.
Thanks for your answer.

I have to say, i bought the TF with the premise of getting a tablet that was at least as good as an iPad, without paying Apple Tax. After three months, I am also quite disappointed with the tablet.
I think what a lot of members on this specific website seem to forget, is that many people want to buy a tablet to just use, not to have to tweak and hack to get it to work.
I still cannot play live streamed 30fps 480p flash videos without juddering.
Apps (especially games) for Android simply are not up to the same quality as iOS - this is obviously due to developers not bothering with the platform. And compatibility issues is probably the biggest joke I have ever seen. Even Windows doesn't have that problem.
My own opinion is that HC was simply developed quickly to try and compete with tablet iOS, and was rushed out. I don't know how much of a difference ICS will make - that remains to be seen.
My biggest issue however, is as I said earlier. While I and most people on this website don't mind tinkering and tweaking with their tablet, the vast majority of customers looking for a tablet want it to just work - and HC doesn't. And the hard truth is, iOS does. Except flash, obviously.

Kaltern said:
I think what a lot of members on this specific website seem to forget, is that many people want to buy a tablet to just use, not to have to tweak and hack to get it to work.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recheck the title of this website. XDA Developers. Kind of like buying a 1968 GTO based on a recommendation in Hot Rod magazine then complaining that it doesn't get 35 mpg like a 2011 Prius. If you are looking for a " tap and play" tablet get an ipad.

Hey there,
hope nobody metioned it before, but why didn't you try installing ubuntu on your TF?
Well in my opinion its an even better os than windows and you get a bunch of free software with ease.
There is a thread over in the qa-forum from lilstevie giving you a pretty easy way to install ubuntu (as long as you got sbk1 at the moment)
It got no hardware graphics acceleration at this point but it didn't sound as you would need it.
Maybe this can save you a few bugs
Greets, coni
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

A lot of your cons will be fixed with the Android 4.0 update.

When I first bought my transformer, I fully agreed with everything you said. I even wanted to sell it because I felt I had wasted my money. But I have to say it is growing on me, for two different reasons.
1) Problems are getting fixed. Better software is coming out or I'm finding solutions to the problems I had. Just the other day I updated flash and started using stock browser to for tudou.com (Chinese youtube), and the videos played flawlessly. Astro made a update recently that greatly improved my file management experience. Granted solving these problems/waiting for updates is still a pain in the ass. But progress is being made.
2) I'm finding things I can do on the transformer that I couldn't do on a laptop. I was taking short notes during an evaluation of one of our teachers. I used evernote with swype (no dock), and it was a great silent experience with no laptop screen blocking my view. Reading books on the transformer is also great. It even got me to start reading comic books, The Walking Dead is a freaking awesome series. I never would have known about were it not for the transformer. And pictures, I feel you on the backwards order thing. But you can't compare sharing pictures on the transformer with a laptop. It's so much better on the transformer.
I still agree that 99% of the games are just terrible. If they can get playstation emulation working a good bit better graphics wise, I'll be happy. Speaking of which, I need to check to see if there have been any recent improvements to the sixaxis app and the emulators.

I like the simplicity of the iPad with the complexity of Android. Minus HC. Not a fan. I have this and the OC Ipad. I like games like Madden 12 and the new NFS and Riptide. Lots of nice graphics. One thing that frustrates me is there are Tegra 3 games out that will not work on Tegra 2. And there is not a huge offering for T2. So Will that mean T2 games will be obsolete?
I find Polaris and Docs to Go are just fine for preparing reports and simple spreadsheets. The 16 X 9 screen is great for movies as well as the nice IPS screen on the Pad. I give the speaker quality to the ipad. Not a fan of the speakers on the Transformer.
Hardware wise, the Transformer blows the Ipad away. Better camera, more RAM, the dock, USB and the sdcard to add on. I think if you are creative then you are using a net book. Plus I can wireless print.
I don't think there is anything wrong with wishing for that perfectly fined tuned device and it will come in time.
To the OP I would recommend the Samsung galaxy note coming out early next year. 5.3 inch screen. IPS screen, dual core processor, phone, and great note taking ability.
I don't like Apples scam of upgrading every year and the costs are incredible. I'm praying for ICS and continued tweaking of problems.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Really, what video formats has Dice been unable to open? It has opened *every* file I've thrown at it.
Sent from my Transformer TF101

Rumbleweed said:
Recheck the title of this website. XDA Developers. Kind of like buying a 1968 GTO based on a recommendation in Hot Rod magazine then complaining that it doesn't get 35 mpg like a 2011 Prius. If you are looking for a " tap and play" tablet get an ipad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly the sort of reply I'd expect.
This site began as a Developer's site, but has since grown into a site for non-devs to get help and information.
You are basically saying that unless you know what 'sudo' means, you shouldn't buy anything other than an ipad, and you shouldn't be on this site.
Which is arrogant and well, not unexpected.

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