Database Users

Dell Streak or Captivate (Galaxy S)

Hey guys,
I would really appreciate it if you could tell me which phone you think would be the better choice. I have had an upgrade from AT&T for over half a year and have been waiting for a big bad a** Android phone to get but have not been inspired yet. The Streak is looking really good and has had me interested for quite some time, but this new Samsung Captivate looks just as great. What do you guys think will be the best choice?

Ive seen a lot of these threads, but i rarely see how the 2 devices are rivals for each other.
The streak is a landscape pad, that can make calls. The Galaxy is a phone.
All you can do is try them in store to see what you think.

Just depends what you want! Streak is much larger of course.

rovex said:
Ive seen a lot of these threads, but i rarely see how the 2 devices are rivals for each other.
The streak is a landscape pad, that can make calls. The Galaxy is a phone.
All you can do is try them in store to see what you think.
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Click to collapse
I agree with that, to me i wanted a tablet and i did not want one as big as the Icrap hence a came across the dell its everything i wanted in a tablet that size and the bonus to me was you can make calls from it as i was not looking for that at first, at present i do not think there is anything better on the market,but now HP has acquired Palm i am sure they will come up with a little gem

Depends on what you want it for.
My usage of a 'mobile device' is a tool first, then a phone. I spend a lot of time travelling and the large screen of the streak makes web browsing, emails, work stuff and games really easy. I rarely use it as a phone other than for a quick call that lasts a minute or two.
So in my case the streak is perfect - especially since my eyes are going. However if I was primarily a phone user - then it would be the wrong device - too big, awkward to hold on a long call compared to a basic nokia anyway.
My view is that now days the phone part is the least used function - so if its going to be a web browser/facebook/twitter/email client then it needs to have a usable screen that makes its main function pleasant to use.
Its not saying the phone part is not important - for me its critical it works as a phone - which it does - its easy to hear, people reckon the sound is good so it fulfils that requirement - but as I said - the phone bit is only used for 5 minutes a day so the big screen means more to me than the fact it feels odd when you talk into it.
On a carrying it around front, its not too big at all, it fits in my pockets quite easily as it's so slim. It gets good signal strength, it hasn't crashed and I've even read an ebook on it which I wouldn't have even attempted on the desire.
(oh and it's quite cool putting other peoples phones on it and saying - oh look, your whole phone is smaller than my screen.......)
But if you spend hours chatting on the phone, either get another phone or buy a bluetooth headset.

navrac said:
(oh and it's quite cool putting other peoples phones on it and saying - oh look, your whole phone is smaller than my screen.......)
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LMAO! Sorry to intrude, but that was a hilarious comment!

navrac said:
(oh and it's quite cool putting other peoples phones on it and saying - oh look, your whole phone is smaller than my screen.......)
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Click to collapse
I can't wait to do that to the iFolk. Of course, they'll defend their god and justify their purchase anyway they can.

I have had both of these within the last couple of weeks so can make a direct comparison. The Galaxy is a 4" display and most definitely a phone. The Dell Streak has a 5" screen and also a reasonable sized surround and in my view looks absolutely daft held up to the ear like a phone.
I remember buying an early Nokia Communicator to use as a converged device and it wasn't until I saw someone else using it like a phone that I realised that instead of looking like the cutting edge device it was, it actually looked like a throwback to the early days of mobile phones.
What I usually do if I havn't actually seen the phone in the flesh is to make a little paper model of it from the dimensions and see how it is going to fit in the hand etc.

navrac said:
Depends on what you want it for.
My usage of a 'mobile device' is a tool first, then a phone. I spend a lot of time travelling and the large screen of the streak makes web browsing, emails, work stuff and games really easy. I rarely use it as a phone other than for a quick call that lasts a minute or two.
So in my case the streak is perfect - especially since my eyes are going. However if I was primarily a phone user - then it would be the wrong device - too big, awkward to hold on a long call compared to a basic nokia anyway.
My view is that now days the phone part is the least used function - so if its going to be a web browser/facebook/twitter/email client then it needs to have a usable screen that makes its main function pleasant to use.
Its not saying the phone part is not important - for me its critical it works as a phone - which it does - its easy to hear, people reckon the sound is good so it fulfils that requirement - but as I said - the phone bit is only used for 5 minutes a day so the big screen means more to me than the fact it feels odd when you talk into it.
On a carrying it around front, its not too big at all, it fits in my pockets quite easily as it's so slim. It gets good signal strength, it hasn't crashed and I've even read an ebook on it which I wouldn't have even attempted on the desire.
(oh and it's quite cool putting other peoples phones on it and saying - oh look, your whole phone is smaller than my screen.......)
But if you spend hours chatting on the phone, either get another phone or buy a bluetooth headset.
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Click to collapse
You just helped me make my decision. Your view on the function of what a phone is used for is just like mine. It is a media device that makes phone calls from time to time when you need to make one. I can not wait for the streak to be released in the US. I hope that July 14 date turns out to be true!

abezapata said:
Hey guys,
I would really appreciate it if you could tell me which phone you think would be the better choice. I have had an upgrade from AT&T for over half a year and have been waiting for a big bad a** Android phone to get but have not been inspired yet. The Streak is looking really good and has had me interested for quite some time, but this new Samsung Captivate looks just as great. What do you guys think will be the best choice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are planning to watch videos on streak then I will tell you this that its screen is inferior when comparing AMOLED screen on desire .. colours are dull screen looks washed out & strangely looks a bit pixalated too .. I dont think its resolution is high enough ..
Other than thats its a perfect tablet with the only other let down 1.6 which shouldnt be an issue as 2.2 should come soon. Build and look is awsome, good camera, good in every other aspect in my view

ufh1 said:
If you are planning to watch videos on streak then I will tell you this that its screen is inferior when comparing AMOLED screen on desire .. colours are dull screen looks washed out & strangely looks a bit pixalated too .. I dont think its resolution is high enough ..
Other than thats its a perfect tablet with the only other let down 1.6 which shouldnt be an issue as 2.2 should come soon. Build and look is awsome, good camera, good in every other aspect in my view
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Click to collapse
The movie problem would not be too bad since I prefer watching them at home on the big screen. I just want the screen to perform well when I am browsing the web and using social apps on it.

abezapata said:
The movie problem would not be too bad since I prefer watching them at home on the big screen. I just want the screen to perform well when I am browsing the web and using social apps on it.
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+1
I have a half dozen movies, and dozens of Seinfeld episodes, that I use on every phone I buy. When I watch a video on a phone I'm not looking for "true blacks" or "bright vibrant colors" or anything approaching high end quality. I'm looking for a quick and dirty way to kill some time while staring intently at a sub 6" screen.
YMMV but for me, the size of the streak's screen trumps all the advantages of AMOLED's superior color rendering, etc.

Pick them both up in a shop and have a go!
Something that may sway you is that the AMOLED screen on the Galaxy is really fragile, drop it on a floor and it will break
And it's really soft glass, even the softcase that it comes with has been known to scratch it

'navrac' summarised the phones' attributes perfectly. I would also like to add that it has a certain feeling of quality. It seems to be the choice for the connoisseur and enthusiast, a device whose qualities only become fully appreciated after an extended period of ownership. Whilst other smart phone users may try to ridicule it's size, the Streak owner will just smile quietly inwardly to himself, safe in the knowledge that his device will still be giving useful service long after their buzz boxes have been consigned to the rubbish bin.

I'd definately take a look at the HTC Desire

abezapata said:
Hey guys,
I would really appreciate it if you could tell me which phone you think would be the better choice. I have had an upgrade from AT&T for over half a year and have been waiting for a big bad a** Android phone to get but have not been inspired yet. The Streak is looking really good and has had me interested for quite some time, but this new Samsung Captivate looks just as great. What do you guys think will be the best choice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaking as someone who has just switched from a Samsung Galaxy S (i9000 model) to the Dell Streak, here are my reasons for doing so:
1. GPS problems on the i9000 - I'm not convinced they'll ever be fixed. Certainly for me SatNav is a big factor in my smartphone usage.
2. The "lag" problem on the i9000. Indicative of sloppy coding (some say bad choice of filesystem, so perhaps just sloppy engineering decision). There are fixes but none of them seem to be the "true" fix.
3. I do a lot of reading (RSS feeds etc) so I came to realise that I could benefit from a larger screen - but not so large I couldn't pocket it.
4. Although the build quality of the i9000 didn't bother me (I did manage to take a minuscule chink out of the glass by dropping it on ... carpet?!) it did creak a bit because it seems to be virtually all plastic. The Streak on the other hand seems really well put together and solid - no creaking. The Streak looks quite menacing, the i9000 looks like an apology for an iPhone 3G
There are annoyances with the Streak, my main gripe is that the default orientation for everything is Landscape and there's no way of changing it (that I know). Even if I lock ADW launcher into portrait mode - in reality it stays locked to landscape! Maddening!
I was also concerned that the size of the Streak might mean I'd have problems pocketing it - no worries so far, it slides easily into my front trouser pocket and comes out just as easily.
Neither device is perfect, but really the GPS issue on the i9000 was the dealbreaker.

checkbox111 said:
Pick them both up in a shop and have a go!
Something that may sway you is that the AMOLED screen on the Galaxy is really fragile, drop it on a floor and it will break
And it's really soft glass, even the softcase that it comes with has been known to scratch it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um the captivate has gorilla glass so i don't see how it is fragile

gorilla glass is more scratch resistant than it is shatter/chipping resistant
fragile can imply either case

You got your point,that's for sure.But,hey,it's too naive to comment "its resolution is not high enough" ,the truth is 800x480 for a 5' screen,as a tablet,is a bit too high.
Typical tablets have some PPI(pixel per inch) like 132(iPad),170(Samsung P1000),149(Lenovo Lepad).Sure,higher PPI means better video/picture viewing,but it also means the control/text in softwares will become smaller by compare,and that would make you experience difficulty interacting with softwares design for tablets.
Dell Streak's PPI is 187,which is already a little bit too high as a tablet,it would become a phone/mp4 if you make the resolution even higher.

You can always change the phone's DPI setting by editing the build prop
the streak's default DPI is 160 and if it were brought to a similar ratio as HTC phones it would be set to around ~200
DPI determines the size/scaling of everything, the only issue is that the stock dialer in streak and a couple of other widgets are not Android stock, they break at 200 DPI but otherwise it works well enough at 200-240 DPI

[Q] Reconsidering the Xoom, but would like some input.

First of all, this isn't a "why I don't like the Xoom" post. Actually, there is a lot that I do really like about the Xoom, and I'm optimistic that once Flash, 4G, and a few more Honeycomb-optimized apps come to the device, it will be a very capable device.
The reason I'm posting here is that I purchased the Xoom online from Verizon when it first came out, but there were a few things that bothered me enough about it that I returned it after about a week to make sure that I didn't land outside the return window. I have however, been considering buying another one, this time directly from the Verizon store so I can spend a little more time with it to determine if I like it enough to justify the $800 expenditure. So, I wanted to post my major nits with the product here to see if others have found them to be not as much of an issue or had found workarounds that solve some of these problems. I know there have been other posts about many of these problems, but I was hoping to get some fresh perspective now that the device has been out and in people's hands for a little longer.
Here's what is keeping me from going out and buying another Xoom right now.
1. I didn't like the display. On auto-brightness, it seemed like it was always too dark, and even the maximum manual brightness setting it still wasn't bright enough to overcome the glare that the screen attracted when I was sitting by a window or near a lamp. I felt like I was always struggling to see what was on the screen, even when indoors. Has anyone had luck solving this with, for example, an anti-glare screen protector? Or was this something that you adjusted to and found to be less of an issue over time?
2. The portfolio case, though serviceable, was unattractive and clunky, but I didn't like the lack of screen protection on the gel case. Is the gel case maybe worth another look, or are there any third party cases in the works that look promising?
3. It can't charge via USB, and the power adapter is a little larger than something I would like to have tucked in my bag all the time. How do you keep your Xoom charged on the go? Do you find that the advantage of being able to charge the Xoom quickly makes up for the fact that it can't be charged by a universal mini-usb?
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. It turned out a little longer than I had originally intended. Looking forward to your feedback.

lazy_rider said:
First of all, this isn't a "why I don't like the Xoom" post. Actually, there is a lot that I do really like about the Xoom, and I'm optimistic that once Flash, 4G, and a few more Honeycomb-optimized apps come to the device, it will be a very capable device.
The reason I'm posting here is that I purchased the Xoom online from Verizon when it first came out, but there were a few things that bothered me enough about it that I returned it after about a week to make sure that I didn't land outside the return window. I have however, been considering buying another one, this time directly from the Verizon store so I can spend a little more time with it to determine if I like it enough to justify the $800 expenditure. So, I wanted to post my major nits with the product here to see if others have found them to be not as much of an issue or had found workarounds that solve some of these problems. I know there have been other posts about many of these problems, but I was hoping to get some fresh perspective now that the device has been out and in people's hands for a little longer.
Here's what is keeping me from going out and buying another Xoom right now.
1. I didn't like the display. On auto-brightness, it seemed like it was always too dark, and even the maximum manual brightness setting it still wasn't bright enough to overcome the glare that the screen attracted when I was sitting by a window or near a lamp. I felt like I was always struggling to see what was on the screen, even when indoors. Has anyone had luck solving this with, for example, an anti-glare screen protector? Or was this something that you adjusted to and found to be less of an issue over time?
2. The portfolio case, though serviceable, was unattractive and clunky, but I didn't like the lack of screen protection on the gel case. Is the gel case maybe worth another look, or are there any third party cases in the works that look promising?
3. It can't charge via USB, and the power adapter is a little larger than something I would like to have tucked in my bag all the time. How do you keep your Xoom charged on the go? Do you find that the advantage of being able to charge the Xoom quickly makes up for the fact that it can't be charged by a universal mini-usb?
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. It turned out a little longer than I had originally intended. Looking forward to your feedback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I agree with the auto brightness. I turned this off and keep the brightness at 75%. I added Zagg invisibleshield and it has significantly reduced glare, fingerprints and smudges. I am happy.
2. I ordered this but it has not arrived yet: http://www.zoogue.com/shop/#xoom-zoogue-case-genius I am currently using the Moto gel case and it works for now.
3. I haven't had an issue with the charger. It charges very fast and the battery life is very good.

I love my xoom, though i don't see a lot of resolution for you on these issues.
1. I love the display, agreed it's hard to see in bright light (but this to me is normal).
2. I like the portfolio case and use it constantly.
3. For me the lack of usb chargning is fine, as the default charger charges so fast and my battary lasts me all day. I can charge from empty to full in less then two hours and get at least a good 12 hour day of off again on again usage.
Hope this helps.

same here.
i turned of auto brightness and the screen is great for me now.
haven't put a case on it (waiting for a good one to come out).
i left the shipping cover plastic on the screen until i decide on what screen protector i am going to use.
no usb charging was not a deal breaker for me as it has been noted before that the charge time is fast and the use time is high.

1. I use mine on a bus and outside and haven't really had a problem with brightness, the glare is a killer though. Inside, at night when using the kindle app, I'd like to turn down the brightness. I picked up the Steinheil screen protectors (matte) and it really cut down on the fingerprint smudges and glare. Yea, the screen isn't as crisp as without the protector, but the smudges ruined it anyway. I took auto brightness off but keep the display turned down.
2. I haven't seen any third party case even for the ipad that I really like. The portfolio from Motorola is the best I've seen so far and I'm really disappointed. It needs to have a typing position, maybe 20-30% incline.
3. I would have liked a mini usb charger. I'll probably get a second one but by charging it at night I have more than enough juice to get through a day.
Motorola had a $100 off coupon floating around and the wifi models are being released at the end of this month which should be less expensive.

keitht said:
1. I agree with the auto brightness. I turned this off and keep the brightness at 75%. I added Zagg invisibleshield and it has significantly reduced glare, fingerprints and smudges. I am happy.
2. I ordered this but it has not arrived yet: http://www.zoogue.com/shop/#xoom-zoogue-case-genius I am currently using the Moto gel case and it works for now.
3. I haven't had an issue with the charger. It charges very fast and the battery life is very good.
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Click to collapse
I have a Zoogue iPad case and have used it for the past 8 months. It is amazing and has held up perfectly. It is an awesome case especially if you intend to watch a fair bit of videos with your tablet. Maybe not the prettiest case around, but it protects the hell out of the tablet and not only allows you any angle of incline, but also a very sturdy base so that it wont go tipping over if you tap the tablet too hard.

I agree with most people here.
1. Forget the auto brightness. It's useless.
2. I really want the zoogue case, let me know how it is. I'm ok with the portfolio case. It's definitely grown on me. I have two big issues with it though: lack of a 30-degree angle for tabletop use, but i've gotten used to the "low angle", and no charging while closed. someone in the accessories forum suggested punching a hole with a punch meant for making holes in a belt and it worked like a charm (hint: try asking your dry cleaner/alternation shop if you can use theirs, that way I didn't have to buy one). Looks like it almost was meant to be there.
3. I would have liked the 'option' of a mirco usb charger, but honestly, I use it every day at work unplug in the morning, use at home after dinner and plug in at night, and have never had an issue. I even went away for the weekend (sat morn to sunday night) and brought my charger, but i never charged it. I dont see it as an issue.

lazy_rider said:
First of all, this isn't a "why I don't like the Xoom" post. Actually, there is a lot that I do really like about the Xoom, and I'm optimistic that once Flash, 4G, and a few more Honeycomb-optimized apps come to the device, it will be a very capable device.
The reason I'm posting here is that I purchased the Xoom online from Verizon when it first came out, but there were a few things that bothered me enough about it that I returned it after about a week to make sure that I didn't land outside the return window. I have however, been considering buying another one, this time directly from the Verizon store so I can spend a little more time with it to determine if I like it enough to justify the $800 expenditure. So, I wanted to post my major nits with the product here to see if others have found them to be not as much of an issue or had found workarounds that solve some of these problems. I know there have been other posts about many of these problems, but I was hoping to get some fresh perspective now that the device has been out and in people's hands for a little longer.
Here's what is keeping me from going out and buying another Xoom right now.
1. I didn't like the display. On auto-brightness, it seemed like it was always too dark, and even the maximum manual brightness setting it still wasn't bright enough to overcome the glare that the screen attracted when I was sitting by a window or near a lamp. I felt like I was always struggling to see what was on the screen, even when indoors. Has anyone had luck solving this with, for example, an anti-glare screen protector? Or was this something that you adjusted to and found to be less of an issue over time?
2. The portfolio case, though serviceable, was unattractive and clunky, but I didn't like the lack of screen protection on the gel case. Is the gel case maybe worth another look, or are there any third party cases in the works that look promising?
3. It can't charge via USB, and the power adapter is a little larger than something I would like to have tucked in my bag all the time. How do you keep your Xoom charged on the go? Do you find that the advantage of being able to charge the Xoom quickly makes up for the fact that it can't be charged by a universal mini-usb?
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. It turned out a little longer than I had originally intended. Looking forward to your feedback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 - I operate my device on auto brightness pretty much all the time, the only exception to this is when QuickPic fires up because it ramps it to 100%. I have found that in most normal operating environments I can see the screen perfectly. I am not outdoors with it very often but I know what you are talking about because it is difficult to see under direct or even semi direct sunlight.
2 - I'm going to buy a gel case right now, I already own the protective case. I want to try them both and figure that I'll use the Gel case around the house and the protective case out at work.
3 - There is a car charger, but I am unaware of a more compact Xoom charger.

Thanks to everyone who has commented so far. I'm leaning strongly towards giving the Xoom another shot, although I might wait until they start shipping with 4G, so I don't have to send it back to Moto for a week for the upgrade.

lazy_rider said:
1. I didn't like the display. Has anyone had luck solving this with, for example, an anti-glare screen protector? Or was this something that you adjusted to and found to be less of an issue over time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm still not over the display quality. This is one of the main factors why I'm weighing to sell the xoom and get another honeycomb tablet in the future.
lazy_rider said:
2. The portfolio case, though serviceable, was unattractive and clunky, but I didn't like the lack of screen protection on the gel case. Is the gel case maybe worth another look, or are there any third party cases in the works that look promising?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't say as I've never used it before.
lazy_rider said:
3. It can't charge via USB, and the power adapter is a little larger than something I would like to have tucked in my bag all the time. How do you keep your Xoom charged on the go? Do you find that the advantage of being able to charge the Xoom quickly makes up for the fact that it can't be charged by a universal mini-usb?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found the xoom's ability to charge quickly makes up for the lack of usb charging. additionally, when in a car traveling long distances, i can hook up the charger to a power generator i bought for the car that easily hooks up to the lighter port.
I'm going to wait it out, and try and get the samsung tablet 10.1 coming out in about a month.

I too use auto brightness all the time, but maybe I live in a dark existence.
I use the gel case all the time, and no screen protector. When I take it with me, its in my protective net book sleeve in my backpack so I'm not really worried about the screen. If I start to hear complaints here about screen issues (other than the gym bag guy) I may seek better protection.
I don't find the charging to be an issue as the battery lasts a long time. I think the car charger (<$30) is a good idea if you are gonna be in the car for even 15 minutes or so. If you can hook up the standard dock someplace in your car you can charge it and play audio from itnto the aux port on your stereo if you have one...
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App

lazy_rider said:
Do you find that the advantage of being able to charge the Xoom quickly makes up for the fact that it can't be charged by a universal mini-usb?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very much so; it charges it so fast and the battery life is so good I just don't worry about it any more. I might get a car charger for the times I can't get home in time, once they get 2nd-sourced (to save money) but so far, so good.

I suffer under no delusions that a device like this will be viewable in direct lighting (including sunlight). I pretty much assumed going in that I'd still be using my classic Nook with e-ink for reading outside...

i bought one and I returned it because of the same issues. Then I bought my wife an I pad 2 and i tested it for a few day and I
notice the xoom is so fast and you not handcuffed to apple products that I went and bought the xoom again and this time I'm keeping it.

No Excuse for Shoddy Build Quality

As the title says:
I was so utterly disappointed with the 10.1
The first one I got Friday Morning had dead pixels on the black status bar at the bottom of the screen. I returned it a couple hours later to Best Buy.
The second one has dust under the middle of the screen. You could see black spots while surfing the web.
Finally, the third one had 8 pieces of dust under the right side of the screen.
I decided to return it and wait for a rumored Nexus Tab or Ice Cream.
Don't get me wrong I LOVE Android. I have the Nexus S 4g, and I have always had android phones. I had the Xoom, but it was too heavy and large. I really had high hopes for the Galaxy Tab. Yet, its sad that the build quality is lacking..
And... lets be honest, Honeycomb needs a LOT of polishing. Its laggy, and has none of the media consumption apps people crave(i.e. netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, etc.)
If you like the Tab do yourself a favor and try not to look at the screen too close.. I fear that there are imperfections on most of them... which is inexcusable

Sounds like you may have had a string of bad luck with the devices. Remember stuff like that gets shipped in bulk so it may have been just an issue with the one shipment to that Best Buy.
I haven't had any issues with build quality on mine. Was worried about the plastic backing but it doesn't dent in like the aluminum on my iPad so it's actually a plus (and it makes the thing lighter). I won't disagree with the Honeycomb needing polish however. For the most part it works fine but there is a significant lack of tablet optimized apps out there and the input lag in the stock browser is annoying at best.

Word...
I just got frustrated man. when you are dropping that much cash on a tab it should be flawless. ya know

Flawless is debatable... there is no such thing.. my $80k car (AMG C63 if anyone cares) is far from flawless, my house.. far from flawless. I have purchased $100+ software/hardware packages (Arcsight.. ridiculously expensive), far from flawless....
If you had asked me 10 or 20 years ago, then I would have agreed, but these days, everything is released with flaws and bugs, it is just how it is these days, and you will have to accept it, or you will never buy anything again..

Yeah man, I understand. I'd be pretty pissed to if I had to return my brand new shiny three times. But it's what all early adopters have to put up with; higher prices, untested technology, new waters and the like. It's what makes it fun,

This would be more shoddy QA than shoddy build quality wouldn't it? I actually quite like the build quality on the thing but could see getting pissed off if I had dust under the screen.

My experience that some people who are hyper-sensitive to "flaws" in devices are those that were truly unsure about their purchase in the first place. When they experience buyer's remorse, they suddenly find "flaws" in the device rather than admit that they made a poor purchasing decision. This bad behavior is unfortunately reinforced by the return policies of the retailers that charge restocking fees except in case of defects.
I'm not saying this is the case with OP. Just an observation.

jvanbrecht said:
Flawless is debatable... there is no such thing.. my $80k car (AMG C63 if anyone cares) is far from flawless, my house.. far from flawless. I have purchased $100+ software/hardware packages (Arcsight.. ridiculously expensive), far from flawless....
If you had asked me 10 or 20 years ago, then I would have agreed, but these days, everything is released with flaws and bugs, it is just how it is these days, and you will have to accept it, or you will never buy anything again..
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Click to collapse
totally OT: $80k for a C63??? how cheap are those cars in the states?? for a normal configuration we have to pay at least about $95k (~67k €).

The 2011 C63 AMG starts at < $60k in the US (though realistically, $70k is the cheapest you'll find it). I'm not sure what the differences are vs the euro models.

rmmorse81 said:
As the title says:
I was so utterly disappointed with the 10.1
The first one I got Friday Morning had dead pixels on the black status bar at the bottom of the screen. I returned it a couple hours later to Best Buy.
The second one has dust under the middle of the screen. You could see black spots while surfing the web.
Finally, the third one had 8 pieces of dust under the right side of the screen.
I decided to return it and wait for a rumored Nexus Tab or Ice Cream.
Don't get me wrong I LOVE Android. I have the Nexus S 4g, and I have always had android phones. I had the Xoom, but it was too heavy and large. I really had high hopes for the Galaxy Tab. Yet, its sad that the build quality is lacking..
And... lets be honest, Honeycomb needs a LOT of polishing. Its laggy, and has none of the media consumption apps people crave(i.e. netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, etc.)
If you like the Tab do yourself a favor and try not to look at the screen too close.. I fear that there are imperfections on most of them... which is inexcusable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ice creams starts at 59 cents

Berner said:
I'm not saying this is the case with OP. Just an observation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My experience has been that some people who try to insinuate that any issues someone may have with a product are actually problems with the person rather than the device, are actually just trying to defend their own purchases.
I'm not saying this is the case with you. Just an observation.

hebbe said:
totally OT: $80k for a C63??? how cheap are those cars in the states?? for a normal configuration we have to pay at least about $95k (~67k €).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are definitely cheaper in the US then in most other places (even DE.. which is odd since they are made there...)
Base model runs around 60k, once you start adding options.. it goes up fast, I have everything but the Performance Package, and the number I through out is the avg for a model configured as mine, I did not pay that much (who ever pays MSRP anyways), as I picked mine up used (Certified Pre Owned model from MB).
You want horrible.. check out the C63 in Australia.. they run almost $200k AU. Half of that is I believe a luxury tax penalty....

jvanbrecht said:
Flawless is debatable... there is no such thing.. my $80k car (AMG C63 if anyone cares) is far from flawless, my house.. far from flawless. I have purchased $100+ software/hardware packages (Arcsight.. ridiculously expensive), far from flawless....
If you had asked me 10 or 20 years ago, then I would have agreed, but these days, everything is released with flaws and bugs, it is just how it is these days, and you will have to accept it, or you will never buy anything again..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come on now - the GTab and C63 have a lot of stuff in common - especially their use of copious amounts of cheap plastic. At least for the Tab, it's only $500

matt310 said:
Come on now - the GTab and C63 have a lot of stuff in common - especially their use of copious amounts of cheap plastic. At least for the Tab, it's only $500
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah.. and it rattles alot.. drives me nuts.. granted that may have something to do with the monster V8 they shoehorned into the little C class.. but still, at the price point, they should have used better materials. At least in EU, and most of the rest of the world, you can get the option of leather dash/console/etc which replaces much of the plastic.. but that is not available on the C class for US AMG models, it is on the E and up classes though.

jvanbrecht said:
Yeah.. and it rattles alot.. drives me nuts.. granted that may have something to do with the monster V8 they shoehorned into the little C class.. but still, at the price point, they should have used better materials. At least in EU, and most of the rest of the world, you can get the option of leather dash/console/etc which replaces much of the plastic.. but that is not available on the C class for US AMG models, it is on the E and up classes though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rattles are caused by a combination of low-profile tires, punishing suspension, and clips that hold dashboard components in place instead of screws. Also, the torsional rigidity of the C isn't as stiff as the E so when you go up driveways and the chassis flexes, that eventually takes its toll on tight tolerance components. Sometimes covering them with leather helps; sometimes not.
The greater concern to me is why MB didn't include an LSD with that car as standard equipment. It's part of the P30 package or a $2,000 standalone option, which to me makes next to no sense. All that power needs a way to get it reliably to the pavement!

rmmorse81 said:
As the title says:
I was so utterly disappointed with the 10.1
The first one I got Friday Morning had dead pixels on the black status bar at the bottom of the screen. I returned it a couple hours later to Best Buy.
The second one has dust under the middle of the screen. You could see black spots while surfing the web.
Finally, the third one had 8 pieces of dust under the right side of the screen.
I decided to return it and wait for a rumored Nexus Tab or Ice Cream.
Don't get me wrong I LOVE Android. I have the Nexus S 4g, and I have always had android phones. I had the Xoom, but it was too heavy and large. I really had high hopes for the Galaxy Tab. Yet, its sad that the build quality is lacking..
And... lets be honest, Honeycomb needs a LOT of polishing. Its laggy, and has none of the media consumption apps people crave(i.e. netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, etc.)
If you like the Tab do yourself a favor and try not to look at the screen too close.. I fear that there are imperfections on most of them... which is inexcusable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you had really bad luck. Did you exchange them from the same place? It might be the batch the store received was the problem, either tampered in production or in transportation. Overall, people seem to be happy with the build, including myself, so it seems you're case was exceptional, and you may give it another try at a different store or vendor.
Nexus Tab/Ice Cream are at best Q4, which can be 4-6 months away, and I wouldn't be surprised if they only came out next year. Honeycomb will definately improve before then, especially in a few weeks we should have custom ROMs too.

Dead pixels AND dust under the screen! I agree 100% with the OP. If you really got three in a row with screen defects that is not acceptable. You can ignore virtually any nick, ding or scratch on the body of a tablet, but it's really hard to ignore screen defects. Especially central ones. In many respects a tablet IS the screen. It's what you interact with all day long.
I'm not that surprised. Samsung sometimes has quality control issues. I ended up returning three Samsung projection TV's in a row once. One of them actually had a picture that was physically tilted so that one side was higher than the other - can't quite understand how that got past quality control. And then there is the recent GPS disaster with the Galaxy S phones - I had one of those and finally ended up getting rid of it because It was impossible to navigate with it.
Samsung is a strange company. They produce cutting edge products that have lots of rough edges. But when you finally get one of Samsung's devices that works correctly, they are sometimes really good. When I finally got a working TV from Samsung, after my fourth try, it lasted forever - superb picture and no problems. Love my Tab 7. And even the Galaxy S was a great phone, as long as you didn't have to get anywhere on time.
I'm surprised that Best Buy didn't give you a hard time with the dead pixels. Every once in a while you get a smart-assed salesman who likes to quote a dead pixel rule: "we can only exchange it if there are 5 or more dead pixels. Just because there's a big black one dead center in the middle of your screen isn't sufficient cause for an exchange!") Had circuit city try this with me on an LCD TV. Course stuff like that is probably the reason they went bankrupt.
This is one reason I prefer buying from brick and mortar stores with items like this. If Best Buy gave you no trouble with 3 returns, thats really commendable on their part. They would get my repeat business just for that.

jvanbrecht said:
Flawless is debatable... there is no such thing.. my $80k car (AMG C63 if anyone cares) is far from flawless, my house.. far from flawless. I have purchased $100+ software/hardware packages (Arcsight.. ridiculously expensive), far from flawless....
If you had asked me 10 or 20 years ago, then I would have agreed, but these days, everything is released with flaws and bugs, it is just how it is these days, and you will have to accept it, or you will never buy anything again..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
??? You have got to be kidding, right ? You may have low expectation and willing to take flaws, but not me, not now, not ever. Doing so just tells the manufactur we will accept the flaws and be done with it. Goodness, accept it ? No way

rmmorse81 said:
As the title says:
I was so utterly disappointed with the 10.1
The first one I got Friday Morning had dead pixels on the black status bar at the bottom of the screen. I returned it a couple hours later to Best Buy.
The second one has dust under the middle of the screen. You could see black spots while surfing the web.
Finally, the third one had 8 pieces of dust under the right side of the screen.
I decided to return it and wait for a rumored Nexus Tab or Ice Cream.
Don't get me wrong I LOVE Android. I have the Nexus S 4g, and I have always had android phones. I had the Xoom, but it was too heavy and large. I really had high hopes for the Galaxy Tab. Yet, its sad that the build quality is lacking..
And... lets be honest, Honeycomb needs a LOT of polishing. Its laggy, and has none of the media consumption apps people crave(i.e. netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, etc.)
If you like the Tab do yourself a favor and try not to look at the screen too close.. I fear that there are imperfections on most of them... which is inexcusable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you clean your glasses before you inspected the tablet?
(J/k I returned one due to back light bleeding)

OP, if you got all of those from the same place, I suggest giving it one more shot and buying it somewhere else.

(Q) modding a phone into a tablet

Can this be done? I am asking this because I am getting sick of messing with all these tablets none of the 7' ones have optical batteries and it is hard to find one that doesn't weigh like a pound with a huge bezel which is the main reason why I was looking at doing this I feel the tablet would really benefit being light weight. My main question is if I found a decent cellphone with a broken screen for cheap would it be difficult to be able to adapt a 16:9 7' LCD panel and capacitive digitizer to the connector? I'd really love to have a small pocketable 7' tablet that has moddable space for some of the cheaply available cellphone batteries or extended batteries etc..
I was close to getting what I wanted with one tablet but it didn't have USB charging.

you can try on openmoko phone,they are coming with full customization opensource phone so you can modify it.

buzz86us said:
Can this be done? I am asking this because I am getting sick of messing with all these tablets none of the 7' ones have optical batteries and it is hard to find one that doesn't weigh like a pound with a huge bezel which is the main reason why I was looking at doing this I feel the tablet would really benefit being light weight. My main question is if I found a decent cellphone with a broken screen for cheap would it be difficult to be able to adapt a 16:9 7' LCD panel and capacitive digitizer to the connector? I'd really love to have a small pocketable 7' tablet that has moddable space for some of the cheaply available cellphone batteries or extended batteries etc..
I was close to getting what I wanted with one tablet but it didn't have USB charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I read this correct, you want to be able to remove the tablets battery and/or swap it with a cellphone battery? Would it work? Yes. No. I have a 5in. Galaxy Player that has a non-removable battery but I removed it just to see if I could. If you manage to correctly wire everything together you have to consider how to get it in a pocketable shell. Also phones and tablets have different shaped batteries and those batteries have different amperage/voltage. But hey, if you got expendable cash and a little "know how" by all means go for it.

i was talking modding a phone with a broken screen into a tablet by replacing the screen with a 7' lcd and a capacitive digitizer and designing a shell while maintaining the phones ability to use its own optical batteries. I am just trying to get a feel for whether this would he a viable idea.

But do u think a 7 inch is pocketable? Even if its weightless? Lol, i almost dont put my hd2 in my pockets, its hell of a big.
But as ans for ur doubts its possible. Unless u manage to get a proper display. Batt isnt that much prob. U can make packs with several batts, if u know how to.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using xda premium

Wouldn't one extended battery suffice? and yes a 7' tab is pocketable the main issue that makes these non pocketable is the huge bezels on some of them.

First and foremost you can't wire a different screen or digitizer into the system. The LCD driver is build and configured for that exact display and resolution. A better solution could be to slave a LCD panel using the hdmi and integrate a mouse into the housing to control it.
As for batteries there is a reason they are the way they are. It is easier to integrate it (smaller profile) and it is easier to deal with. You would need a huge battery if you wanted any sort of run time.

giritrobbins said:
First and foremost you can't wire a different screen or digitizer into the system. The LCD driver is build and configured for that exact display and resolution. A better solution could be to slave a LCD panel using the hdmi and integrate a mouse into the housing to control it.
As for batteries there is a reason they are the way they are. It is easier to integrate it (smaller profile) and it is easier to deal with. You would need a huge battery if you wanted any sort of run time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was going to say, the biggest problem will be the driving hardware for the LCD as almost each lcd has a different one. In order for this to work you would have to find one that works exactly the same way as the screen that you are taking off.
Battery power will also be a problem. The battery for my Captivate is 5.5 Watt Hours which at 3.7-3.8V is 1450-1500mAh. The battery an iPad 2 is 28W which at 3.8V is 7380 mAh. Basically, bigger screen = bigger backlight. Bigger backlight = more power. The most battery two most battery draining items on the phone is the cell receiver and the lcd backlight.

pongkite said:
you can try on openmoko phone,they are coming with full customization opensource phone so you can modify it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. I haven't seen a reference to openmoko in a long time.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

What's wrong with having a bezel around the screen? It is actually useful when you hold the tablet cause your fingers won't touch the screen as you're holding it

Get a Samsung galaxy note!

I agree with this guy ^^^^
I had the same trouble as you, but now I have a Galaxy Note, its only 5.3 inches though not 7, but after moving up from an iPhone it feels huge.

Yes on the Galaxy Note -- have one and am pleased
I have the Galaxy Note and recommend it as well.
Give that, my read is you may find an option of using an andriod phone put a mod on it (an example cyanogenmod) and BOOM phablet
I am digging into this as an option as well (welcome comments). I have been trying to get a device from ebay without luck todate (recommendations welcome).
I also ordered a Window N50 (N5Zero) as another option
let me know if this helps

Unless you really need the phone functionality of an actual phone, wouldn't it be much simpler to buy an existing 7" tablet and then mod it to take removable batteries? Some dremel work, bit of plastic plates for support and some spring contacts and you're good to go.
China makes some very nice android tablets. I've got a 9.7 one that runs ICS and the experience on it is at least as good as my old HTC desire minus the phone and 3G. Supports external 3G dongles but dang they're ugly..

For the record, I have a galaxy note.
Just buy a kindle fire, root it, and install ICS. Or just install a launcher like my GF did. For 200 dollars you will not do any better than it, period.
The kindle fire is pretty impressive in terms of RAM and processor power for the price, and while the screen isn't perfect, I found it hard to justify $700 at the time for the Gnote over her free smartphone and $200 dollar KF.
Even in terms of gaming, emulation, etc, I have yet to find anything running significantly slower than on my Gnote, even though the specs are just a 1ghz dual- core processor and 512 mb RAM. I think the playstation emulater ran ever so slightly slower with a 3D game, that's it.
My girl seems to get around 3-4 days on standby with some moderate gaming and a lot of e-reading, etc. I'm sure you can get a generic micro-usb 'external battery' which will charge your device etc. Personally, I just carry around a micro-usb cable and/or charger. Unless you are taking this hypothetical tablet into the woods I can't see how you wouldn't be able to charge it at least for an hour or two somewhere in this day and age.
One of the reasons that you will not find tablets with removable batteries is that the batteries themselves are massive and make up much a pretty sizeable chunk of the phone. I can't state the specifics, but the point is you can't just 'remove the back and plop in a new battery'. What, were you planning to run four galaxy S2 batteries in series or something? How would that be useful? And do you really think that the result you will get will be superior to something you could buy? Have you ever tried soldering onto PCBs before? Do you have the proper equipment to do so?
+1 to the lower-cost tablets coming out of China, etc. I have heard some good things about them.
Summary: economies of scale have all the answers you need

The Toshiba Thrive has a removable battery. The 10 inch, at any rate.
Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] TF810 vs Ativ 500T

Seems simple as they are almost the same we should go for cheaper one...but...
is getting Samsung really a better deal?
Your thoughts? Which hybrid with Atom is the best choice and why?

I own the Samsung 500t. What I like about it besides being $200 cheaper, is the rotation lock button, full sized USB port, and a slot to store the s-pen. What I don't like is the glossy slippery plastic back, the weak speakers, and lack of second battery in the dock.
The TF810 looks like it has better build quality with mostly aluminum and some plastic, shouldn't be slippery, I think the "Quad-Speakers" are probably going to sound better. It's got a brighter Super IPS+ screen which helps if you need to use the tablet outside. And it has a second battery in the dock. Oh and it is just better looking too.
The Atom is okay, but it's video playback kinda sucks. It seems many of these Atom tablets have various driver quirks that are still being worked out. Things just don't seem to be quite ready yet and I'm already second guessing the wisdom of spending $750 on the Samsung. So I definitely wouldn't pay $950 for the ASUS (with dock).
I'm looking at the HP Envy X2 also. HP has it on sale for $750 (not sure how long this sale will last), that includes the dock. I really like the all aluminum build and the latch mechanism doesn't stick out as much as other tablets. It's also get a second battery in the dock, but has no stylus or a Wacom digitizer (apparently uses some cheaper digitizer). And some day the keyboard isn't that good either.
Seems like all the Atom tablets have some downsides that we have to figure out which ones we can accept.
I'm also thinking about just giving up on the whole keyboard docking thing and saving some money and getting a 10 inch ASUS VivoTab Smart. At least it'll make a better tablet being lighter and easier to hold. And I can prop it up in a stand and use a bluetooth keyboard. And lastly I won't feel so bad spending so much money to be a first generation Windows 8 tablet guinea pig.

Lenovo Lynx is looking pretty good too. $600 for the tablet, $150 for the dock.
http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/tablet/ideatab/lynx-k3011/?menu-id=learn&ref-id=learn
Being a Lenovo that means the keyboard should be pretty good, and the keyboard dock has a battery. Built quality looks quite nice overall, and a textured back appears grippy and finger print resistant. It has no pen though. And what really makes me nervous is the specs say the micro SD slot supports up to 32GB. No SDXC in 2013, seriously? I'm really thinking that's got to be a mistake, but I'm not sure. It's definitely a deal breaker if it isn't a mistake.

Ravynmagi said:
I own the Samsung 500t. What I like about it besides being $200 cheaper, is the rotation lock button, full sized USB port, and a slot to store the s-pen. What I don't like is the glossy slippery plastic back, the weak speakers, and lack of second battery in the dock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a true downside. I got Galaxy S3 and I have dropped it few times beacuse back has no grip at all , I suppose laptop/tablet will be less mobile than phone but still it should allow me to carry it in safety.
Ravynmagi said:
The TF810 looks like it has better build quality with mostly aluminum and some plastic, shouldn't be slippery, I think the "Quad-Speakers" are probably going to sound better. It's got a brighter Super IPS+ screen which helps if you need to use the tablet outside. And it has a second battery in the dock. Oh and it is just better looking too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My thoughts exactly. So fat I have only seen 500t in reality as Vivo Tab is not in shops yet... but I just like the way it look.
One more downside of Asus in Poland is TERRIBLE warranty service. Services are being run by small companies that have agreement with Asus Poland and in most cases they blame user for everything - standard reply is "Seal was broken/tempered with - warranty void" even having pictures of it before send for repairs is not helping .
Ravynmagi said:
The Atom is okay, but it's video playback kinda sucks. It seems many of these Atom tablets have various driver quirks that are still being worked out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exactly are your issues?
This device that I will buy has to be able to play (smoothly) most video formats, most popular being .mkv 720p.
If this has similar problems to "old" Tegra 2 devices (remeber?) than it is a BIG PROBLEM.
On the other hand I used to have old Asus 1201n netbook with dual-core Atom 300 and first gen. Nvidia Ion onboard and it played everything without an issue (12" screen with 1366x768).
So... what is going on here?
Ravynmagi said:
I'm looking at the HP Envy X2 also. HP has it on sale for $750
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Saw it... don't like it either. Had HP/Compaq in the past and always had problems with them.
Since hardware of HP and 500t is the same I would go with Samsung in this one (I guess).
Ravynmagi said:
Seems like all the Atom tablets have some downsides that we have to figure out which ones we can accept.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More details, please
Ravynmagi said:
I'm also thinking about just giving up on the whole keyboard docking thing and saving some money and getting a 10 inch ASUS VivoTab Smart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was considering it, but in my case size of screen matters . When I write texts I work with few windows an 10" is just to small .

What's the difference between the tf810 and the tf810c? Is there a tf810 with LTE or any cellular connectivity?
Also the Samsung device looks to be a afterthought device from Samsung. Avoid
If its possible, I'd say wait another season or two for more competition.
If not, go TF810.

WingCero said:
What's the difference between the tf810 and the tf810c? Is there a tf810 with LTE or any cellular connectivity?
Also the Samsung device looks to be a afterthought device from Samsung. Avoid
If its possible, I'd say wait another season or two for more competition.
If not, go TF810.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't wait I am waiting last 2 year to replace iPad with something that will do what I need.
I need Windows to work, I need mobile device to work away from home during weekends ( yes I know)
And I dont want just laptop as I has to be entertainment device as well.
Why do you say: Samsung device looks to be a afterthought device...?

galtom said:
Can't wait I am waiting last 2 year to replace iPad with something that will do what I need.
I need Windows to work, I need mobile device to work away from home during weekends ( yes I know)
And I dont want just laptop as I has to be entertainment device as well.
Why do you say: Samsung device looks to be a afterthought device...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In terms of the Samsung device, its build quality looks to be just as bad as it's phones. Samsung laptops are probably the best in the world (Series 9) To see the ATIV coming from them is a clear sign that they didn't really put much thought into it, especially when you compare it to DELL and ASUS' hybrids.
Looks like we're in the same situation. I cannot wait either :-/
I just posted this so maybe you'll find some help alongside of me.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2093981

Thanks for link.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

I have a TF810C and it's beautiful, the battery life is quite incredible. I consider this device perfect, except for the downsides:
-Slightly visible pixels at normal viewing distance, due to lowish resolution screen
-The pen bugs out when drawing 1cm near the edges of the screen
-The pen lacks drivers, and so does not work for Photoshop or nearly anything else. It works with some Windows 8 apps and both desktop & metro OneNote. When it does work, it works really well.
-Tinny speakers that are situated at the back of the tablet. They get a little bit distorted.
-No complex gestures for the touchpad. I like to tap on the right click area instead of pressing down, but the drivers for the tablet don't allow this!
-Dodgy, dodgy chipset drivers. Expect a BSOD every 2 days, sound that completely breaks until you reboot once a day, stability problems, unresponsive touchpad when waking from sleep, etc. These can happily be fixed by installing Samsung/HP/Acer drivers.
-No ASUS support at all. Drivers are not being updated, and the website doesn't even list the device correctly.
-The CPU can't handle fast-moving 720p 10bit .mkv files in VLC Player. Media Player Classic works, but it breaks for complex subtitles. Thankfully, a kickstarter for Windows 8-style VLC Player has been funded, and may offer better performance.
...And that's pretty much it for the problems. Every last one of them.
The tablet is thin, light, shiny, has a colourful and bright display, well-balanced with the keyboard dock, brilliant in every other way.
I can definitely recommend it, and hope that ASUS will eventually get around to fixing these problems rather than making users depend on other devices' drivers.

galtom said:
What exactly are your issues?
This device that I will buy has to be able to play (smoothly) most video formats, most popular being .mkv 720p.
If this has similar problems to "old" Tegra 2 devices (remeber?) than it is a BIG PROBLEM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's fortunately not as bad as the Tegra 2. I'm not sure if it's a hardware issue or maybe just a driver issue. I have trouble playing back some 1080p videos, there are noticeable frame drops. Stream HD video from Amazon Prime or YouTube gets choppy sometimes (not referring to buffering issues) as it's dropping frames. The ABC Player app in the Windows Store also drops frames. The Netflix app however seems to work flawlessly. And if I download 1080p YouTube videos and play them back with VLC that seem to work fine usually. 720p MVK files work most of the time, think I've had some higher bit rate ones that got choppy sometimes.
I have a smoother and more reliable video playback experience with my Kindle Fire HD. I'm hoping this is just a driver issue and things will get smoothed out soon.
Other driver issues...
Wireless sometimes has trouble reconnecting to an access point with bluetooth is being used. Some have also mentioned dramatic slows with wifi using bluetooth, though I haven't done any file transfers while using my bluetooth mouse yet, so haven't seen that first hand yet. If I disable the bluetooth the wireless never seems to have trouble reconnecting, only with bluetooth on.
The keyboard/trackpad don't seem to go to sleep when the tablet does. With the tablet in the keyboard dock, if I close lid this often causes the tablet to wake back up, even the screen will come back on. And it make stay on. I've also found that apps I didn't open will open up after I close the lid. I the tablet coming within close proximity of the trackpad while it's close is causing it to register clicks or interaction and wake up and run apps. I now have to manually press Fn-F5 to disable the track pad before closing the tablet lid on the keyboard. This seems to help a lot and now the tablet will go to sleep most of the time. Hopefully a driver update will make the keyboard/trackpad also sleep at some point.
However I don't think the keyboard/trackpad is the only issue preventing the tablet from going to sleep. Seems like if I have some applications running it has trouble sleeping as well. So if it doesn't sleep I may need to close some apps or go back to the Windows Start screen.
The audio is inconsistent. Sometimes the volume sounds good and sufficient and other times I have a real hard time hearing it. It's different on an app by app basis. Hopefully this can be improved through drivers.
galtom said:
More details, please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I seem to run into big cons with each tablet I look at...
Samsung 500T, slippery back, no secondary battery.
ASUS TF810, expensive, no pen silo.
HP Envy X2, No pen, poor keyboard.
Acer W510, Too small, poor keyboard.
Lenovo Lynx, No pen, 32GB SD limitation.
Lenovo Tabet 2, No keyboard dock.
Dell Latitude 10, No keyboard dock, too small.
Pick your poison. I'd prefer a keyboard dock that converts the tablet into a clamshell laptop design (so I'm not a fan of the Surface kickstand and type cover design). 10 inch tablets mean the keyboard is going to be too cramped, so the W510 is too small (and the Dell is too if it had a keyboard).
Originally I didn't care about a pen, however after using the Samsung 510T for a while, I'm starting to realize the pen is pretty nice to have. It helps with desktop apps, such as when I want to highlight some text in the browser, which seems to be impossible to do by finger. I don't ink on my tablets, so the pen is just to make working with the desktop apps easier. And I need to be able to store the pen in the tablet otherwise it'll be hugely inconvenient. This is probably the one con I can overlook, I think I could live without the pen, it's just something I'd really like to have.
Seems like on the Lenovo Lynx has the 32GB micro SD limitation. I already own a 64GB microSD card and I got to be able to use this with my tablet. 64GB is going to already be cramped on the tablet (only about 32 to 40GB is available depending on the size of the recovery partition). I'm hoping the 32GB limit is an error in the specs list, but it's mentioned more than once in different places.
Lack of secondary battery is more an annoyance. So far I've been able to get through an entire tablet with my Samsung 500T despite not having a second battery. I'm also not using the tablet constantly all day long, but I do use if frequently through out the day. And the battery life of the Atom is already impressive. So it's disappointing there is no second battery, but it's not a deal breaker.
A slippery back on a tablet almost is a deal breaker. While I don't feel like there is any danger of dropping it, it's so huge, so it won't slip out of your hands that fast. But it does make holding it even more awkward than the weight and size already make. Fortunately this potential deal breaker issue is somewhat solved with a skin I put on the back from Decalrus. The skin is smooth, but it is still a decent improvement than the glossy plastic of the tablet. It doesn't feel slippery anymore.
At this moment I'm probably going to end up keeping my Samsung 500T. If the Lenovo Lynx supported 64GB micro SD then I'd be highly tempted to switch to that. However if the sleep issues with the Samsung keyboard keeps bothering me, it's possible I just may give up on a tablet+keyboard=laptop dream and just go with a pure 10 inch tablet without keyboard and get an ASUS ME400 (VivoTab Smart) and save myself $250. And wait for the Bay Trail tablet at the end of the year.
---------- Post added at 08:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 AM ----------
One positive thing about the 500T. Despite some driver issus with the wireless, it seems like Samsung has been doing a good job with driver updates. And the tablet has been quite stable. I've never had a bluescreen of death and don't need to reboot it.

Ravynmagi said:
A slippery back on a tablet almost is a deal breaker. While I don't feel like there is any danger of dropping it, it's so huge, so it won't slip out of your hands that fast. But it does make holding it even more awkward than the weight and size already make. Fortunately this potential deal breaker issue is somewhat solved with a skin I put on the back from Decalrus. The skin is smooth, but it is still a decent improvement than the glossy plastic of the tablet. It doesn't feel slippery anymore.
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It seems a couple people posted about the slippery back of the Samsung ATIV 500T. I have owned this tablet for about 3 weeks now and I have had no issues at all with the material on the back of the tablet. Honestly I dont even feel like it is slippery. Its not like my fingers glide across the back when I am gripping it. Or I have never set it on a surface and feared that it would glide to the other end and fall to the ground. Just my opinion.
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knlmwq said:
It seems a couple people posted about the slippery back of the Samsung ATIV 500T. I have owned this tablet for about 3 weeks now and I have had no issues at all with the material on the back of the tablet. Honestly I dont even feel like it is slippery. Its not like my fingers glide across the back when I am gripping it. Or I have never set it on a surface and feared that it would glide to the other end and fall to the ground. Just my opinion.
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The back is smooth glossy plastic. When your hands are perfectly dry there is no issue. Unfortunately for us humans, up to 60% of our body is water and most of us have a little bit of moisture that forms in our palms. So unless you are constantly rubbing your hands dry and wiping the back of the tablet with a cloth, it's going to get slippery for most people.
I have no fear it's going to just pop out of my hands like a wet bar of soap. But it's difficult to hold in the palm of one hand while interacting with the screen, because it keeps slipping.
This back is one of the big reasons I'm returning mine. It's just too much of a hassle.

In all those devices with 64GB SSD - how much space is left for user?

A base Win8 64-bit install will use ~15GB, counting pagefile, hiberfile, etc. (size highly variable on the amount of RAM installed, among other things). Adding things like Office and the legacy .NET frameworks will drive that up somewhat. Realistically, If there's a recovery partition (likely), it'll probably be at least 5GB and possibly as much as 15GB (if there's a ton of pre-loaded crap) but that just depends on where you get it from, and you can create external recovery media (flashdrive or similar), nuke the recovery partition, and extend the main partition into the space. Realistically, I'd say you should expect to have 30-40GB of fully usable free space - you can go higher than that, especially if you disable hibernate, but it will slow things down if the storage gets too full.

Thanks for the info - that is all I needed to know.
As far as I understand there will be no problem in moving recovery partition to USB drive/NAS disk/ or even to cloud (Skydrive) just for storage?

galtom said:
Thanks for the info - that is all I needed to know.
As far as I understand there will be no problem in moving recovery partition to USB drive/NAS disk/ or even to cloud (Skydrive) just for storage?
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You can move it to a USB flash drive, it needs about 8GB of space. I probably wouldn't put it in a cloud drive since if you actually need it it'll need to be on a USB flash drive anyway.
BTW, with my Samsung 500T, I sometimes had to reboot twice before it would recognize the USB recovery drive (USB boot is weird on this thing).

Hi Guys, I had both the Ativ 500t and now the TF810. For me the 500t seemed slower and seemed to freeze. so I returned it and last week I got the TF810 for my Bday. It is so much better quality and performance. I also had a huge problem with the keyboard disconnecting on the 500t. The keyboard is soo much better with the TF810 and the battery adds atleast an additional 8hours. All this aside I ended up winning a contest at work and will receive the surface pro when released so I will probably sell the TF810 and throw in the Keyboard for free. It turns out we just missed out on the extended return with Amazon holiday because Adorama is only 15days into the new year.
Out of the 2 the TF810 for me was the far better machine. Granted I have only used it for a week but everything from the Pen on is so much better.

Great to hear that my decision to spend more and get Tf810 was/is a good one

Before you sell the TF810, it would be interesting to observe your comparison with the Surface Pro. I have the Surface RT and love it, but I'd like to see some comparisons of the x86 options. The Surface is very tablet-y; it can be used as a laptop (I have the Touch Cover, which works but is not perfect) but even with the kickstand and all, it feels a bit more natural as a tablet. I'm worried that Surface Pro may try a little too hard to be a tablet (despite its disadvantages in weight, thickness, etc.), and end up being good at neither.

If I still have it when the Pro comes I will do the comp video. But right now it is on EBay with keyboard included for only $799 so I doubt it will last long. As it is priced to sell.