Considering Purchase of A200-10g16u

[lordfly911]

I have been wanting a tablet for a while now. My netbook is just cutting it anymore, plus its screen went Kaput. It is now delegated as a workstation for the kids.

I am a couch surfer and casual game player. I am tired of laptops and really think tablets are the way to go. I think the a200 is what I am looking for (if I can get the war department to let me buy it).

I understand that the only downsides are low sound (possibly fixed with an app), and no HDMI (I don't even use the HDMI port on my wife's laptop). Is there anything else I should consider?

Can I transfer my paid apps from my phone to the tablet? I use logmein ignition a lot, but it is a PITA on a small phone. I have other stuff as well.

Another concern is website compatibility. I am not sure if anyone is familiar with Reading Plus. It has Flash and Java requirements, which I am sure that Android has no problem with. I just haven't checked browser compatibility yet. Any thoughts? For my android phone I use about:useragent to change it so it works with most websites. I have only found a few that had a problem because of the screen size and scrolling.

This might be helpful for others wanting the same tablet.

 

[kenji57]

Easiest fix for low sound is earphones, which is also a plus if you use the noise isolating in-ear type as it cuts external noise.

You can use the apps you have already purchased (providing they are compatible - most are, the point is you don't have to pay for them again).

I checked the reading plus website, but didn't want to purchase a subscription. Their home page and virtual tour run OK, so unless there,s some software you need to install it should work.
You might need to set the tab to default to desktop view instead of mobile, in settings

I've got laptops, including a net book, but the tablet is brilliant for the couch or anywhere where you don't have a desk (in the park, on the train etc). I really don't like using the touchpad on a laptop, I need a mouse, but the tablet is fantastic. Plus the USB port lets you plug in keyboard, hard drives.

Where android falls down is Office apps, there's no equivalent to word or excel, only poor imitations

 

[lordfly911]

I emailed the people at Reading Plus and they say no, but I suspect they just don't care to even try.

They do have a requirements check at Reading Plus Login

They requirements say IE6, Firefox or Safari. Since Firefox works on Android, I don't see why not. But I just tried on my Captivate, and set the about:useragent to desktop. The only part it failed on was detecting Java Plug-in. How does Android handle Java?

Can you see if the same thing fails on the tablet?

Thanks

 

[kenji57]

Same result "Java is not installed", everything else OK and from a quick search it looks like Java is not supported on Android. Tough luck

(Java script is supported but that is not the same thing)

 

[wtatters]

Same result "Java is not installed", everything else OK and from a quick search it looks like Java is not supported on Android. Tough luck

(Java script is supported but that is not the same thing)

The irony is that Android is actually a custom java system running on top of a linux kernal... but compiled android bytecode is not compatible with regular java bytrcode

 

[lordfly911]

The irony is that Android is actually a custom java system running on top of a linux kernal... but compiled android bytecode is not compatible with regular java bytrcode

I did some research and came up with the same results. I think that they are generally the same compiler, it is just that there is no way for the javascript to correctly identify that there is a version of Java installed.

This again makes Android more powerful in the sense that it is native and doesn't need it as an add-on.

Once I get it, I will be testing out many Java run websites to see if I find compatibility issues. Maybe the whole thing is just fine.

Thanks for all of your help

 

[lordfly911]

Well I finally got my tablet on Friday. But unfortunately two hours later I had to send it to Texas.

It seems mine suffered from a power issue where it will not come on or even show the charging light. Acer took care of me and so it is on its way for repair.

I did have it running initial but when I turned it off to let it fully charge it would not come back on. I have read in other forums of the same problem. It might be an issue caused by the OTA upgrade or maybe just a bad battery. I will update when I get it back.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

 

[lordfly911]

Update: 03/21/2012

Received tablet back. I have it on and charging. The returning slip says that all they did was a power reset. Frankly, I don't know what that means since I did everything else. Does anyone else know what a "power reset" means?

Anyway, working good so far. I did a full reset just to make it clean again. I went through the initial real quick. Everything is working except for one thing and that is Netflix. The app took me to the Market (which has not updated to Play Store yet). It says it has an update. The update failed and Netflix will not open.

I agree the sound is low, but that is fine with me. Headphones are probably going to be the norm anyway. I just installed Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. I have had it on my Captivate but now I can play it on the big screen.

Thoughts?

Update again: Google Market updated and Netflix is now updating correctly. I think I am in the money now.