The Android thread

Observation of the day - The Nexus S seems to kill its battery faster than the HTC Desire, be it from gaming or browsing the web.

Isn't there a "battery saver" tool within the newest versions of Sense. That could be the reason why it lasts longer...or maybe HTC's done some battery life optimization in software.
 
Isn't there a "battery saver" tool within the newest versions of Sense. That could be the reason why it lasts longer...or maybe HTC's done some battery life optimization in software.

The battery saver tool only comes on when you select it to come on anywhere between 10-30%.

Then again you could think about it this way, ones a Hummingbird processor, another is a snapdragon processor. Not that it makes that much of a difference. <_<
 
Okay then, I guess no iPad for them!

Take a look at RockPlayer. But Honeycomb is buggy and finicky with some high profile HD videos, so if your videos are HD there is a chance some would need to be re-encoded. Probably won't be a problem for pirated stuff since they aren't terribly high quality, but I haven't tried my hand at playing videos yet.

For magazines there is Zinio, they are giving away free trials currently. But the app is a turd, it's slow and furthermore it's basically a PDF viewer as all the magazines are scanned and non-interactive. They do seem to have a lot of different titles but personally I wouldn't pay to have scanned magazines. I think Asus have loaded one of their own too, called PressReader or something, but I immediately banished that from my tablet along with all the other Asus software.

I've been messing with this for a few hours on my brand new Eee Pad. It can play .MKV 720P files with hardware accel just fine, but I was having audio issues.

I re-encoded from .MKV to .M4v, and it's buttery smooth. I'm using VitalPlayer. Handbrake re-encoded my 1.4GB Game of Thrones episodes in about 19-22 minutes per episode.

Edit: Speaking of which, after I get back from Colorado I'm returning the Eee Pad and getting a Galaxy Tab 10.1. I LIKE the Eee Pad, but I have some niggles (The uninstall application button doesn't work while in portrait mode, wtf?)
 
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Lots of people are complaining about the Transformer over on XDA, and gushing over the Galaxy Tab.

Personally I don't see why, most of the issues with the Transformer are software related so there is no guarantee Samsung has fixed them... it is Samsung afterall and we know how they roll when it comes to Android.

The portrait weirdness is a Honeycomb shortcoming as far as I can tell, the Market app doesn't even support any kind of portrait mode yet! But the uninstall button works fine on my Transformer in either orientation - I just tried it and it works, I'm on Prime 1.4.


Of course, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 supposedly uses a SuperPLS screen which is apparently better than IPS and somewhat akin to SuperAMOLED panels. This was news to me until a few days ago, I was under the impression it used a forgettable panel like the Motorola Xoom for instance because nobody seems to know or care that the Tab 10.1 apparently has a brilliant screen that would be unmatched by any current tablet.

It still doesn't make me want a Tab 10.1 though, the only reason I picked up a Honeycomb tablet at all was the great value offered by Asus on the Transformer. Personally, with the current state of bugs and lack of tablet-specific apps in Honeycomb, I don't think a device which runs that as the OS is worth a penny more than the $399 Asus is charging.
 
My expectations for the Galaxy Tab include a huge aftermarket software dev team, which is why I'm attracted to that. Also, the galaxy tab is significantly thinner (4.3mm) and lighter (100g). Given the fact that I'm unwilling to root and mess about with a device I have every expectation of returning in 12 days, I can't comment on the modded ROMS for the Eee Pad.

The better screen would be nice. I can't read anything on my Eee pad in diffused sunlight (cloudy day, but bright) with the brightness all the way up. Not so much a problem with the screen being washed-out as a problem with glare.

Nevertheless I'll have to play with a 10.1 before I make my decision. A part of me still wants to wait for Kal-El.


Edit: Does the 10.1 have a microSD card slot? If not that'd be a dealbreaker.
 
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You don't need to justify your decision, but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me... you are returning the Transformer and don't want to root it for that very reason, but the first reason you mention for wanting the Galaxy Tab is the development community.

I'll give it to you on the form factor issue, the Transformer is more akin to the original iPad proportions. Personally I don't mind the slightly beefy proportions considering the price of the Transformer. Regarding the screen, well it's all pure speculation at this point but I wouldn't be certain that outdoor visibility is noticeably improved over other tablets; it's probably just got improved colours like their phones... or oversaturated radioactive colours, depending on who you ask.

Here's a comparison video if anyone cares... the Samsung is the version given out to I/O attendees and the software seems horrible, I have to imagine they fixed that:

 
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Let me explain about the dev community.

I've had nothing but fantastic success with the dev community for my Galaxy S. I believe, and I'm not exactly sure WHY I believe this, that the 10.1 will have a longer, larger dev community than the Transformer. I'm not entirely sure how true that is, but it's my own bias. (I also have a hardon for Samsung's hardware in general). I find the transformer hefty and easy to hold (I absolutely adore the textured back panel). If the 10.1 is so thin it's a problem to hold, like the Galaxy S is for me without a case, that's going to be a serious negative to the 10.1. As for direct-sunlight performance, as you said it's something I'll have to see for myself.

I also have no idea if a case is a good idea for a tablet or not.

The reason I'm returning the Transformer after my trip is that I can't really afford it right now. I just wanted to "test-drive" a tablet to see if it really has a place in my lifestyle, given the fact that I already have a Kindle and a smartphone.

Sorry if my replies are a little hard to decipher, suuper tired and have to stay up all night.


Edit: They did fix the terribad software, 3.1 update came out recently for the I/O Edition Galaxy Tabs. Word is it fixed a bunch of stuff.
 
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Double post, but im starting to suspect that my transfromer has a dead strip of touch screen sensors. Will test and report back.
 
Double post, but im starting to suspect that my transfromer has a dead strip of touch screen sensors. Will test and report back.

If its anything like my Gtablet, then its a calibration issue not a touchscreen issue. There is a calibration app and also a calibration.ini file that can be loaded onto the SD card that will fix most of the issues with the Gtablet. It just forces the tablet to calibrate on every startup. Before I did that, there were a bunch of dead areas (most notably over the O and a couple other letters in the keyboard) but afterwards its all good. You also had to be more forceful with the screen touches before, and now it does it with barely a touch.

All this talk of Transformers and the new GalaxyTab and the Xoom, and I've had pretty much the same technology since March with my Gtablet. No official Honeycomb (and probably never will be), but there are two different ports for it. Tried one the other day and am not a huge fan of it so far. Performance being glitchy aside, just the GUI on it was annoying to me. Its a significant departure from the more traditional Launchers and even the custom made Launchers specific to Tablets (VTL.launcher or whatever). Maybe it will grow on me, but so far I have no regrets sticking with Froyo or Gingerbread based ROMs. At least they have the hardware drivers mostly working. Went back to a Froyo based one, and its been really nice having hardware acceleration for videos and such, something that can't really be said for GB and Honeycomb based Tegra 2 platforms right now.

Kind of intrigued by the Samsung stuff too. I've been nothing but pleased by my Captivate(minus the damn GPS) and the dual core 10" version ought to be good. Wish it had the SAMOLED+ screen, but so far that is just small mark off its record since it sounds like it still has a good screen (arguably the best of the bunch). Definitely wish the resolution/pixel density was higher on my Gtablet. Still probably won't be springing for one since its not a huge difference from the Gtablet, especially for what I use it for (offroad navigation and doing stuff on job sites).

Maybe there isn't room, but I wish that they would use full size SD cards rather then MicroSD cards. At least the Gtablet has a real USB port on it, but it would be nice to have a full size SD so I can use larger and faster cards that are reasonably priced for it.
 
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Let me explain about the dev community.

I've had nothing but fantastic success with the dev community for my Galaxy S. I believe, and I'm not exactly sure WHY I believe this, that the 10.1 will have a longer, larger dev community than the Transformer. I'm not entirely sure how true that is, but it's my own bias. (I also have a hardon for Samsung's hardware in general). I find the transformer hefty and easy to hold (I absolutely adore the textured back panel). If the 10.1 is so thin it's a problem to hold, like the Galaxy S is for me without a case, that's going to be a serious negative to the 10.1. As for direct-sunlight performance, as you said it's something I'll have to see for myself.

Why do you think the Asus won't have good aftermarket developer support? It's a decent device with a good price, and it' s not locked down or anything. The lack of development going on for the Transformer, I would guess, is probably because it's been so hard to get them. The 16GB is still hit or miss in terms of stock supply, it's not like when a carrier releases a big phone and over the course of a weekend tens of thousands of devices are in hands of customers.

Plus my experience with Asus has been they are great with software updates, not just compared to Samsung's poor reputation in that regard but in general. I used to have one of their netbooks and they provided full Windows 7 drivers a full year later so we could upgrade from XP - it was totally unexpected and it actually made the device so much faster and nicer to use than it was brand new with XP.

I guess I've become a bit of an Asus fanboy without noticing, spent over $1,300 on Asus products in the last two or so months. But I genuinely think they do nice products, and their customer support is much better than one would expect.


You may very well have a faulty unit with the touchscreen, I think I read about that on XDA. But it's so hard to know what on XDA is real and what isn't these days, too many idiots with a poor grasp of English complaining about unimportant crap.

Thread after thread about the Transformer's poor build quality, about how it creaks... well my $250 Nook color creaked, my $1300 MacBook Pro unibody creaked. I really do think some of those guys are being especially hard on Asus because it's a relatively unknown Asian company with a funny sounding name.


Anyway, I guess we'll have to wait for some reputable people to review the Tab 10.1... I do find the Transformer a bit too heavy to hold, but like I said, I wasn't prepared to shell out more monies for Honeycomb at this point so I'm happy.
 
If its anything like my Gtablet, then its a calibration issue not a touchscreen issue. There is a calibration app and also a calibration.ini file that can be loaded onto the SD card that will fix most of the issues with the Gtablet. It just forces the tablet to calibrate on every startup. Before I did that, there were a bunch of dead areas (most notably over the O and a couple other letters in the keyboard) but afterwards its all good. You also had to be more forceful with the screen touches before, and now it does it with barely a touch.

Gtablet uses a resistive touchscreen that requires calibration every so often. The EEE Transformer uses a capacitave touchscreen, much like your phone.

Why do you think the Asus won't have good aftermarket developer support? It's a decent device with a good price, and it' s not locked down or anything. The lack of development going on for the Transformer, I would guess, is probably because it's been so hard to get them. The 16GB is still hit or miss in terms of stock supply, it's not like when a carrier releases a big phone and over the course of a weekend tens of thousands of devices are in hands of customers.

Plus my experience with Asus has been they are great with software updates, not just compared to Samsung's poor reputation in that regard but in general. I used to have one of their netbooks and they provided full Windows 7 drivers a full year later so we could upgrade from XP - it was totally unexpected and it actually made the device so much faster and nicer to use than it was brand new with XP.

I guess I've become a bit of an Asus fanboy without noticing, spent over $1,300 on Asus products in the last two or so months. But I genuinely think they do nice products, and their customer support is much better than one would expect.


You may very well have a faulty unit with the touchscreen, I think I read about that on XDA. But it's so hard to know what on XDA is real and what isn't these days, too many idiots with a poor grasp of English complaining about unimportant crap.

Thread after thread about the Transformer's poor build quality, about how it creaks... well my $250 Nook color creaked, my $1300 MacBook Pro unibody creaked. I really do think some of those guys are being especially hard on Asus because it's a relatively unknown Asian company with a funny sounding name.


Anyway, I guess we'll have to wait for some reputable people to review the Tab 10.1... I do find the Transformer a bit too heavy to hold, but like I said, I wasn't prepared to shell out more monies for Honeycomb at this point so I'm happy.

I've always been pleased with Asus systems, my stepmom's EEE PC is very well made, and their full size laptops look good too. I was also impressed with how MSI supplied W7 drivers for everything but the touchpad (which i got myself) on my Wind. Not that I needed to grab any, but it was a nice thought.

I think that Samsung's getting better with updates. The quick rollout of 3.1 is a promising sign.

In reviews i looked at, no one said anything about bad Transformer quality, actually people seemed to like how well put together the tablet and dock were, and how solid the latching mechanism and hinge felt. I agree at how unorganized XDA is...its a lot of cruft and stuff to go through to find real information these days...shame..
 
Gtablet uses a resistive touchscreen that requires calibration every so often. The EEE Transformer uses a capacitave touchscreen, much like your phone.

Nope.....its capacitive. I wouldn't have posted what I posted if it was a different kind of touch screen:rolleyes:

http://www.viewsonic.com/products/gtablet.htm

Gtablet looks VERY similar to the Transformer, just with slightly cheaper materials, TFT instead of IFS screen and stock software that blows chunks (easily remedied with lots of aftermarket ROM support). Its also a lot cheaper, so I guess I got what I paid for. If it had been 2 months later I would probably have sprung for an Asus or Samsung unit, but the Gtablet was pretty much the only thing going back then and I wanted it for a trip.
 
Nope.....its capacitive. I wouldn't have posted what I posted if it was a different kind of touch screen:rolleyes:

http://www.viewsonic.com/products/gtablet.htm

Gtablet looks VERY similar to the Transformer, just with slightly cheaper materials, TFT instead of IFS screen and stock software that blows chunks (easily remedied with lots of aftermarket ROM support). Its also a lot cheaper, so I guess I got what I paid for. If it had been 2 months later I would probably have sprung for an Asus or Samsung unit, but the Gtablet was pretty much the only thing going back then and I wanted it for a trip.

Well...calibration is usually a resistive thing...guess there's a first for everything.... :)
 
6-11-11-galaxy-s-ii-att-accessory.jpg


I like the dock.
 
I really like that they ditched the chrome ring, all black like that is damn sexy. I really hope it has a notification light though, not having one is lame.
 
Indeed - No notification light is kinda annoying on the Nexus S.
 
Indeed - No notification light is kinda annoying on the Nexus S.
I actually quite like not having a notification light. My old Nexus One had a billion-zillion colors for its notification light, but my last two HTC phones just had yellow and green, which was annoying. I want a notification light with millions of colors or none at all. </picky>
 
Observation of the day - The Nexus S seems to kill its battery faster than the HTC Desire, be it from gaming or browsing the web.

I think it's from the samsung gingerbread bug. Is your android OS process eating up more than 15% of your battery? (check via menu - settings - about phone - battery usage)
 
Yeah, my captivate got way better battery life than the Nexus.
 
I think it's from the samsung gingerbread bug. Is your android OS process eating up more than 15% of your battery? (check via menu - settings - about phone - battery usage)

Nope, 3%.

To be fair, the other day I was subjecting the phone to quiet a workout, so I'm not surprised the battery died quickly. I do still think the Desire battery lasted longer, but that may have been due to the fact that I left 3G off whenever I didn't need it and didn't do as much web browsing as I do now with the Nexus.
 
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