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TLS2000
Premium Member
join:2004-02-24
Elmsdale, NS

TLS2000 to El Quintron

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to El Quintron

Re: Looking for a New Android Tablet

It's easily one of the best keyboard available for any mobile device.

On topic: Elwood, have you considered a Windows 8.1 tablet? Not an RT one. A full blown Windows one.

El Quintron
Cancel Culture Ambassador
Premium Member
join:2008-04-28
Tronna

El Quintron

Premium Member

said by TLS2000:

It's easily one of the best keyboard available for any mobile device.

She seems to be liking it so far.

shaner
Premium Member
join:2000-10-04
Calgary, AB

shaner to TLS2000

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to TLS2000
said by TLS2000:

said by El Quintron:

...she just hates texting and writing with it, because according to her the default keyboard is terrible.

Swiftkey is now free. It's the best keyboard available for Android. I can't stand the Samsung keyboard on my S4 or Galaxy Tab.

»play.google.com/store/ap ··· swiftkey

I'll second that. SwiftKey rocks.

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues to TLS2000

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to TLS2000
Not really, doesn't interest me.. I'd have to learn a 99th platform..

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

4 edits

Davesnothere to Guspaz

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to Guspaz
said by Davesnothere:

said by El Quintron:

I have the NotePro 12.2, it screams with speed and power, but it's big and expensive.....

»www.tigerdirect.ca/appli ··· odyysApg

I has a 2560x1600 screen ! (among other goodies)

= = = = = = =

Any comments on THIS [next] one ? :

»www.tigerdirect.ca/appli ··· tId=6845

1920x1200 screen....

said by Guspaz:

If you're paying almost as much as the Galaxy Note S 8.4 (which is currently considered the best Android tablet available at that size), then it's not a great deal.

Compared to the LG G Pad, that Samsung tablet is substantially lighter (294g vs 340g), thinner (6.6mm vs 8.1mm), has a higher res screen (2560x1600 vs 1920x1200), has more RAM (3GB vs 2GB), runs a newer version of Android (4.4.2 vs 4.2.2), faster CPU (4xA15@1.9GHZ + 1xA7@1.3GHz vs 4xS600@1.7GHz)...

As for the Galaxy Note Pro [of El Quintron's], that thing is huge. It has a 12.2" screen and weighs nearly twice as much as the Galaxy Note S 10.5. Costs a lot more too.

 
Galaxy Note S 8.4 - I looked it up at Tiger, and while I could not exactly match the model trade name, they have one called Galaxy Tab S 8.4 which seems to be the same beast (specs-wise) as what you just added in your last post :

»www.tigerdirect.ca/appli ··· tId=6845 (RAM not specified)

While I did that, I also saw THIS one Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 (same $450 reg price as the Galaxy Tab S 8.4, but now on special for $350 = less than that LG's reg price) :

»www.tigerdirect.ca/appli ··· tId=6845 (RAM = 2GB)

The main spec diff among these last 2 looks to be that the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 has a single faster CPU, while the Galaxy Tab/Note S 8.4 has TWO slower CPUs.

Same screen and internal storage, same OS, same Bluetooth 4.0, same Cams, I think same RAM.

What think ?

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
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join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues to shaner

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Have you looked at the permissions it wants? No thanks
Riamen
Premium Member
join:2002-11-04
Calgary

Riamen to elwoodblues

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to elwoodblues
I really dislike Android's all or nothing approach to permissions. iOS's granular way of doing it is much better, plus you can go back and change your mind on which permissions you want to grant an app. Google seems to adding that feature in Android L which would be nice to see.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

1 edit

Davesnothere

Premium Member

 
Guspaz, I'm having trouble Googling "Galaxy Note S 8.4".

Do you happen to have a link ?

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz to elwoodblues

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to elwoodblues
It definitely is a problem with Android, and it's one that harkens back to Google's original decision to give up control of distribution of their OS to carriers and hardware vendors. Back when Apple launched the first iPhone, it was actually a very controversial decision for them to take full control over the OS, and I don't think Google had the sort of leverage when they launched Android that Apple did.

Microsoft, for their part, took something of a middle ground.

Google definitely recognizes that it's a problem, but at the same time the fragmentary nature of the Android hardware market makes it a difficult problem: there are so many different hardware configurations possible that synchronizing releases is virtually impossible.

That's why Google has been de-emphasizing OS releases in favour of Play releases. When Google's "built-in" apps were tied to OS releases, users could wait years for updates, or never get them at all. They've since moved all their apps (and a bunch of other stuff) to Play, such that they can push out new features and updates to users regardless of what OS version they're running. It's an important step in the right direction.

I suspect that Google will continue with this trend in the long-term, making their "OS" a thinner and thinner layer, that will ultimately be responsible primarily for acting as an interface between the hardware and the software, supplying things like drivers, low-level APIs, process and memory management, etc. There would still be benefits to be had from OS updates (such as better power management), but it would free up everything else to be hardware-independent. They could push out an entirely new user interface without actually updating the OS.

TLS2000
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join:2004-02-24
Elmsdale, NS
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro
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TLS2000 to elwoodblues

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said by elwoodblues:

Not really, doesn't interest me.. I'd have to learn a 99th platform..

You don't know Windows?
TLS2000

TLS2000 to elwoodblues

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to elwoodblues
said by elwoodblues:

Have you looked at the permissions it wants? No thanks

I just checked them and it looks like the Google keyboard needs all the same permissions, except for the ones that Swiftkey uses for its cloud service (so that you have the same dictionaries on every Android device).

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz to Davesnothere

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to Davesnothere
Yeah, I had the wrong name:

»www.anandtech.com/show/8 ··· 5-84inch

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere

Premium Member

 
Thanks.

I was beginning to think so, as I read more reviews and such.

BTW, Anand's first words in the one which you linked :

"Samsung's tablet lineup can be confusing to follow...."

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
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join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

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They're pushing out tablets tin every category to try and corner the market... ALA Microsoft

jmacd27
Premium Member
join:2001-05-13
Toronto, ON

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I just picked up a Samsung Galaxy S 10.5 today. The screen is wicked good. So far it seems speedy enough. I have a week to play with it up at the cottage, so far the Samsung bloat seems tolerable. I may end up using another launcher if I notice any lag.
I considered the Samsung Pro 12.2, but I just fell in love with the AMOLED screen on the S.
MichelR
join:2011-07-03
Trois-Rivieres, QC

MichelR

Member

said by jmacd27:

I just picked up a Samsung Galaxy S 10.5 today. The screen is wicked good. So far it seems speedy enough. I have a week to play with it up at the cottage, so far the Samsung bloat seems tolerable. I may end up using another launcher if I notice any lag.
I considered the Samsung Pro 12.2, but I just fell in love with the AMOLED screen on the S.

Based on the reviews, Samsung have reduced the bloat with the S models. I'm sort of considering getting one, but I'm not sure if it's really worth it considering I have an iPad. I'll try to play with one at the store sometime.

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone to shaner

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said by shaner:

Samsung, HTC and LG are pretty notorious for not releasing timely updates because they would prefer you buy a whole new phone to get the latest OS.

You're completely ignoring the fact that carriers want to get their grubby little hands on everything. Samsung in particular releases firmware fairly quick, it's the carriers that take forever to do anytjing with it. Sometimes it can be months between the American carriers releasing an update before the Canadians do.

shaner
Premium Member
join:2000-10-04
Calgary, AB

shaner

Premium Member

That's very true.

Mike2009
join:2009-01-13
Ottawa, ON

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My old Galaxy 3 tab which everyone said would never get updated got 4.4.2 update this morning! Anyone else?

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

Premium Member


Samsung is behind, I'm at 4.4.4 my Nexus.

Mike2009
join:2009-01-13
Ottawa, ON

Mike2009

Member

My Samsung phone also has 4.4.2 but was updated months ago. Just surprised the tablet updated at all.
Mont
join:2006-05-02
Saint-Leonard, QC

Mont to Mike2009

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to Mike2009
I got it but a few months ago.

TwiztedZero
Nine Zero Burp Nine Six
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join:2011-03-31
Toronto, ON

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All signs are pointing to HTC manufacturing Google's upcoming Nexus 9 and a new report suggests the Android L-equipped tablet will launch on Oct. 16.

HTC has already scheduled a press event for Oct. 8

The Nexus 9 is expected to feature a 9-inch 2560 x 1600 display and will be the first device to ship with Google's next-generation Android L OS. The tablet is expected to include a powerful 2.3 GHz quad-core 64-bit Nvidia Tegra K1 processor and have 3 GB of RAM. It's expected to ship versions with either 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage and a microSD expansion slot that will support up to 128-GB microSD cards.


elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

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The microsd is a lie, Google doesn't "like" sd slots.

Robert4
Premium Member
join:2002-03-11
St John'S, NL

Robert4

Premium Member

As well I thought there was a mention that they were going with Snapdragon afterwards.
markf
join:2008-01-24
Scarborough, ON

markf to elwoodblues

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I just got the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0.

Can't say that I'm too excited by it actually. Might be able to use it to watch videos and that sort of thing, but I find that my Windows 8.1 laptop boots up quick enough that I use that to do anything that I don't use my phone for.

I have a BlackBerry Q10 with Android apps on it. Most of the apps that I want to use work on the Q10, so the Tab doesn't really do all that much more (other than a bigger screen).

Might change my mind after a few weeks, but the initial impression is that if it didn't just cost me $25 in bank fees, I'd be pretty let down right now.

I did play with a Dell Venue Pro 8 tablet at FS when it was on sale for $229. That seemed like a much more useful tablet to me. It would be nice to have a mini Windows 8 machine. If it goes on for that price again around Christmas, I may wrap one up for me and give the Samsung to the kids full time.