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This question has (to my best knowledge) never been addressed in its own thread. I want to use the Xoom (or any other laptop-substitute for that matter) to edit Word and Excel documents, look at presentations on a screen instead of print outs, make last minute changes etc. Maybe take notes during meetings/presentations... you get the idea. It might also be used as multimedia device.
Now, with the currently available accessories (I really like the idea of a case with integrated bluetooth keyboard) is this a reasonable expectation of the Xoom?
Thanks for all your opinions!
I'm not using a bluetooth keyboard but using docs to go with pretty good success. I get an error loading to gdocs but it still does the upload. Some advanced excel functions and word formatting are not the but its decent. The powerpoint part of docs to go is garbage. I have also been using repligo for annotating pdf files and it is very slick well worth the 4.99.
I am trying to use my xoom in place of all the paper docs i used to print and take to meetings. Also signed up to beta test the swiftkey tablet keyboard to see if that works better than this stock honeycomb one.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Thanks! I'll keep on looking; if not for the Xoom then at least for my Nook
I am considering buying one of these but would like to try it out in a store before I buy it. Does anyone know of a US retailer that stocks them?
I am mostly curious about the following things:
1) How good is it for taking notes in college/university classes? Can you rest your palm on the screen while using the stylus?
2) Is there a way to view the notes taken on pdf on a computer?
3) Is it pretty solid feel wise? Or does it feel like it will fall apart after a couple years?
4) How much bloatware comes on it and is it hard to remove via rooting?
5) Does the screen go dark enough for comfortable reading in dimly lit rooms?
Thanks for the info.
the notes are great, I use Quill, as it works nearly perfect, in the app i have turned on pen input only and jot tons and tons of notes all day long.
You can export the notes to various files, while im not sure about PDF there is certainly a format that can be read on your desktop
Like all lenovo products i've had its built to last like an enterprise system should be. as long as you take care of it it will last a long time past EOL
Bloatware isnt too bad, theres still some stuff lenovo managed to get into the system pretty deep (like the status bar wheel widget thing.) but its never bothered me that much as it only comes up at the home screen.
screen brightness works great in dim rooms, i tend to read books by a small lamp in bed most of the time with minimal strain.
I purchased mine from lenovo direct so I dont know about any local retailers.
Thanks for the info. However when I asked about notes on PDFs I should have clarified a bit. I was asking about their PDF viewer that lets you take notes on the PDF document and weather that can be exported to something useful.
Also I thought of one more thing: If I have my notes backed up with something like spideroak, can the notes be converted on a computer? I ask because I am worried about taking a semesters worth of notes on it then having it die and there being no way to read them without getting a new tablet.
FearTheCron said:
Thanks for the info. However when I asked about notes on PDFs I should have clarified a bit. I was asking about their PDF viewer that lets you take notes on the PDF document and weather that can be exported to something useful.
Also I thought of one more thing: If I have my notes backed up with something like spideroak, can the notes be converted on a computer? I ask because I am worried about taking a semesters worth of notes on it then having it die and there being no way to read them without getting a new tablet.
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ezPDF allows you to fill out pdf forms, underline, strikeout, and add freehand drawings as well as circles/squares/etc. It should do what you're looking for.
https://market.android.com/details?id=udk.android.reader&feature=search_result
and if you have the file saved as a pdf on your sd card you should be able to open it with any pdf reader (pc or otherwise).
The quill note taking app he mentioned allows you to export your notes to sdcard pdfs
Thanks for the info.
One last thing: has anyone used connect bot or another ssh client on this? I am curious if the keys on the keyboard folio such as escape quotes tild and whatnot all send the proper characters. I had a bluetooth keyboard for my N1 a while back that sent some weird unicode characters for the quotes making terminal usage very difficult.
https://market.android.com/details?id=berserker.android.apps.sshdroid&hl=en
I have used SSH droid with WINSCP worked like a charm, I'm by no means an experienced user with SSH, i just used it to dig around the file system.
SSH droid is a server for the android device, I am asking about using a client on the android device.
My bad, I left my brain at home today... I will test it for you this evening and let you know if the client works with the keymapping
Cool thanks, I look forward to hearing your results.
Update: I just ordered one, so if its too much of a bother don't worry about testing the connect bot thing. My shiny object syndrome overwhelmed my frugal side. Can't wait to get my hands on it.
It works like a charm tested with Moba SSH home 1.22 and connect bot, all the keys from the folio map properly and I haven't seen anything odd at this point, also SSH'd into a couple of Access points over my VPN at work with the TPT to test as well.
Congrats on the TPT! you're gonna love it!
Unfortunately the keys do not map properly, escape is still connected to "back" in the android os and ctrl is connected to "menu". Does anyone know if there is some way to map these to their proper functions?
Thanks
S
I would like to pare down my Nook a bit.
I do like the native reader app and I borrow library books.
Yes, I could use the OverDrive reader, but the native reader is much better.
The first thing that went was Shop.apk
It was kind of annoying to search for stuff on my Nook and come up with 50,000 suggestions of books that I could buy.
Social.apk seems to go away painlessly too.
Deleting (or renaming) Home.apk breaks the "Last Read" icon on the desktop.
You can still get there by Library and hitting the top of most recent.
It gets you to the right page.
It probably would not be hard to write an app to do the last read function.
Moreover, you'd have a system icon to do with what you will.
(It sends an intent that is not handled. I'll have to make a receiver and see what it is.)
Okay, deleting Home.apk also breaks additions to Library.
But, you can still borrow books on Adobe Digital Editions and read them by clicking them in a file browser.
Oh, well, might as well delete Library.apk
Hmm, I guess that Library.apk is a search content provider.
Books no longer show up in global search.
I guess that I'll have to roll my own.
Re-enable Home.apk, disable Reader.apk and see what intent goes.
(Last page read is kept in /data/data/com.bn.nook.reader.activities/databases/lastreadingpoint.db
Select ean from lastreadingpoint order by lastupdated
I'm not trying to get around the DRM or anything. I just want to get rid of all the cruft.
I see what you're trying to do here
I've been playing with this some more.
Reader.apk keeps track itself of last page read.
If you just use a file manager to open your books you'll get the right page.
If you are a big library user and use Adobe Digital Editions,
then the info that ADE dumps on your Nook could be integrated nicely.
You could have your books listed and show the return date.
Hmm, do you think it could be possible to fully debrand the device and have it running a normal, common Eclair, but using the actual ROM as base? like, deleting the B&N apps and creating custom providers & intent receivers to avoid FCs and such?
Well, if you delete (or rename) Home.apk and Library.apk but still like to use Reader.apk (the native epub reader),
then you might need a convenient way to get to your last read book.
It's not rocket science and I haven't figured out the little book icon on the status bar yet,
but if you want to get back to your book here is a little app to go to last read.
Put the icon on your desktop and click the "L" to go to last read.
Did you replace library, or just completely delete it?
darkguy2008 said:
Hmm, do you think it could be possible to fully debrand the device and have it running a normal, common Eclair, but using the actual ROM as base? like, deleting the B&N apps and creating custom providers & intent receivers to avoid FCs and such?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also wondered this, I use my nook for Kindle more than I do B&N lol. It would be great if we could get a ROM to flash that removes everything from the device and just makes it run stock Android then use Kindle and B&N apps, as well as whatever other apps for reading epubs to read our books. Don't know if this is possible but it would be nice, then we could fully repurpose all the buttons on the device purely for Android OS
And make a custom e-ink friendly version of the android homescreen, possibly including no-refresh?
Right now I've got the following apps deleted:
DemoMode.apk
Home.apk
Library.apk
Shop.apk
Social.apk
I will be working on a replacement library app.
I don't use the Kindle app. Do people who do also use the Nook native reader?
At the lowest level, all you need is a file manager.
I presume that each of the readers keep track of last page.
(Regarding the Nook lastreadingpoint:
Going straight to the database is the wrong approach, using the content provider is the right way.
LastRead.apk uses that.)
Ok, it's a neat hack to watch video on the Nook, but you really wouldn't want your Nook in A2 mode all the time.
As I've said before, the best uses of A2 is when an app knows when to use it, when dragging, scrolling, zooming.
If you have the source code to a browser/viewer/whatever, putting wrappers around the dragging/scrolling/zooming operation would be an improvement.
Personally, I have no problem with my ADW Launcher.
That it blurs and trails when parking an app on the desktop is no big deal.
I've got the little book icon on the status bar to open the last book in the native Nook reader.
That is, if you don't have Home.apk or (B&N) Library.apk
Here is a stop-gap release.
It works fine for the "Currently reading" but there is not yet other functionality in it.
I left it as a complete application so that you can easily see if you have it installed.
The actual "application" part of it is a blank screen.
No need to run it or put it on your desktop.
Just install it and click the little book on the status bar.
Renate NST said:
I've got the little book icon on the status bar to open the last book in the native Nook reader.
That is, if you don't have Home.apk or (B&N) Library.apk
Here is a stop-gap release.
It works fine for the "Currently reading" but there is not yet other functionality in it.
I left it as a complete application so that you can easily see if you have it installed.
The actual "application" part of it is a blank screen.
No need to run it or put it on your desktop.
Just install it and click the little book on the status bar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, looks interesting, seems like you've managed to already wrap some events to dummy workers we can attach to in the future and mod this thing up . Awesome!
I'll be testing it somewhere between today and tomorrow. Right now I'm trying to replace the stock keyboard. LatinIME.apk is deleteable but there isn't any working keyboard for it yet (I've tried GO Keyboard, GB Keyboard for Froyo/Eclair and HTC IME with no avail) and it's one of the biggest annoyances I have with it since I need more of a PC-keyboard-lookalike rather than an ebook keyboard
Although I am not getting the point of your mission :-D try Hacker's keyboard. It is possible to google out android 2.1 version. It is the best I have found so far although it is quite dark.
Just thought I'd drop this link here for hacker's keyboard.
http://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/issues/detail?id=57
Also, make sure that after you install it you move it to /system/app
Googie2149 said:
Just thought I'd drop this link here for hacker's keyboard.
http://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/issues/detail?id=57
Also, make sure that after you install it you move it to /system/app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, you rock! I've wanted that keyboard to work specifically. Thanks a lot!!
I've had some progress on the Library replacement.
It's not ready for prime time, but it is cute.
It will list the expiration date of your library books.
It's nice to be able to fit over 10 titles on the screen.
Renate NST said:
I've had some progress on the Library replacement.
It's not ready for prime time, but it is cute.
It will list the expiration date of your library books.
It's nice to be able to fit over 10 titles on the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's awesome!
When will you release it?
I've been working on two different approaches.
One is to use the Android native mediastore.
There are some bugs with this and it can get out of sync.
The other is to do all the searching for books myself.
That works ok as long as the books are found in the usual places:
/system/media/books
/data/media/B&N Downloads/Books
/media/My Files/Books
/media/Digital Editions
/sdcard/My Files/Books
Are there any other locations that I am missing?
darkguy2008 said:
When will you release it?
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Click to collapse
I really don't know if it suits anyone's needs besides my own.
Because the stock Home.apk, Library.apk and Shop.apk are all tied together,
to have my app work correctly you have to rename or delete the three of them.
As far as I know it should allow books bought from B&N to still work correctly,
but I don't know because I don't own any. I only get library books or Gutenberg.
Is it important for people to be able to buy B&N books directly on their Nook?
Renate NST said:
Is it important for people to be able to buy B&N books directly on their Nook?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not if it's free?
Naturally, I speak for myself only.
You need credit card added to buy B&N free books still...
From another hand you can get same free books somewhere else, right?
Apokrifx is right, also, that app would suit me too. I need a credit card to buy B&N books, which I don't have -and- I'm not interested at all in using it as a reader. If I want to read something I'll download it and slam it through a PDF reader installed on it.
My main use for it is to take out ALL of the B&N stuff and use it as an android tablet, so, to me, it's really useful
Hey all, I rooted an NST back in the day, really enjoyed using it with Overdrive, class notes, and the like. My fiancee, who works in publishing, wanted a new e-reader of her own to read submitted manuscripts. I saw that they were coming out with a new Nook and recommended it, figuring I could sideload whatever apps are needed to do whatever she wanted. It just came in the mail.
Turns out there's really only one thing she wants to do with it that we can't do out of the box: easily read word documents. The submissions she gets are pretty much all .doc and .docx files - her old Sony e-reader could handle them fine before the thing finally died. Surely there's an app that can read microsoft word documents on the nook, right?
...right?
I'm hoping there's something that basically looks and acts like the reader and that works well with sideloading. She doesn't need anything fancy like syncing with a cloud library. Just plug nook into computer, drag doc onto nook, eject, and read doc. I think she can handle using an alternate launcher, but I don't want to have to clunk around with converting things to epubs unless it's almost a 1-click conversion offline (proprietary stuff can't be uploaded to an online converter).
Any recommendations? Thank you!
jptiger said:
Hey all, I rooted an NST back in the day, really enjoyed using it with Overdrive, class notes, and the like. My fiancee, who works in publishing, wanted a new e-reader of her own to read submitted manuscripts. I saw that they were coming out with a new Nook and recommended it, figuring I could sideload whatever apps are needed to do whatever she wanted. It just came in the mail.
Turns out there's really only one thing she wants to do with it that we can't do out of the box: easily read word documents. The submissions she gets are pretty much all .doc and .docx files - her old Sony e-reader could handle them fine before the thing finally died. Surely there's an app that can read microsoft word documents on the nook, right?
...right?
I'm hoping there's something that basically looks and acts like the reader and that works well with sideloading. She doesn't need anything fancy like syncing with a cloud library. Just plug nook into computer, drag doc onto nook, eject, and read doc. I think she can handle using an alternate launcher, but I don't want to have to clunk around with converting things to epubs unless it's almost a 1-click conversion offline (proprietary stuff can't be uploaded to an online converter).
Any recommendations? Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to have an old version of Kingsoft Office...now called sonething else. It ran OK on the NST. I switched to an old version of Documents to Go. Both handle the typical MS formats.
The title says it all:
I'm looking for an app that a user can use to browse to a desired book which will show that book covers of epubs and possibly even pdfs WITHOUT B&N apps like afiledownloadersvc.apk.
I'm so loving not having any B&N stuff going on with my NST, and I love gifting rooted NSTs to friends. This would make it more user friendly.
I'm thinking along the lines of a file explorer app or library app.
Anyone have any ideas or solution?
I have found a solution on mobileread.com.
It doesn't at all display the covers, but it is clean enough and organizable enough to be satisfactory for me. Also, it's designed for e-ink.
Everybody knows the good old Relaunch app (which is not my launcher; I use LauncherPro), well this is a really new version of it.
Enter RelaunchX. It can omit the launcher functions of Relaunch entirely and can be exclusively used for a library app. You can even get rid of the app drawer in this new permutation.
Here it is if you want to check it out:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284418
Hope this helps someone who may have this question.
ALinkToTao said:
I have found a solution on mobileread.com
Here it is if you want to check it out:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284418
Hope this helps someone who may have this question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So were you looking for basically epubs only? I've been thinking about this issue for awhile since going B&N free on one device. The reader that seems to deliver the best display has a horrible library that requires you to go through pages of nonsense before you get to the covers. Actualy I think all my big three contenders do the same thing or similar.
So epubs seem to be easy to deal with. In principle I think I can do that with Tasker. Mobis are difficult. There I could probably get everything except the cover without going online to fetch it. Most of the popular general readers do not do pdfs so perhaps I shouldn' t even worry about those. I dunno. It's not been done before and seems so obvious. I wonder...
nmyshkin said:
So were you looking for basically epubs only? I've been thinking about this issue for awhile since going B&N free on one device. The reader that seems to deliver the best display has a horrible library that requires you to go through pages of nonsense before you get to the covers. Actualy I think all my big three contenders do the same thing or similar.
So epubs seem to be easy to deal with. In principle I think I can do that with Tasker. Mobis are difficult. There I could probably get everything except the cover without going online to fetch it. Most of the popular general readers do not do pdfs so perhaps I shouldn' t even worry about those. I dunno. It's not been done before and seems so obvious. I wonder...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I was looking for epubs mostly. I have some pdfs I would use it for too, but that's not absolutely necessary.
ALinkToTao said:
Yes, I was looking for epubs mostly. I have some pdfs I would use it for too, but that's not absolutely necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long time since you posted, but I just rediscovered this: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nook-touch/themes-apps/library-app-t2823169
I haven't tested it fully, but it looks promising.