8.9ers Advice Sought - vs Nexus, ICS, Jelly Bean

jamesb6789 · January 15th, 2013, 06:40 AM

Hi
1) Would you buy a used 8.9 with 16gb 3G or a 16gb Nexus 7 (non-3G) today if they were the same price?
2) How fast is ICS on this tab and does it run Skype video etc OK?
3) Is there a stable Jelly Bean version and is it easy for a newbie to install?
Thanks in advance!

Jesslynh · January 16th, 2013, 10:51 AM

1 - I would go with the 8.9
2 - Its not that bad, but I have no benchmarks. I didn't notice any huge difference when trying a coworkers Nexus 7
3 - I tried one and it was fine - go to XDA, I just followed the rooting guide for 8.9 here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1406137

jamesb6789 · January 16th, 2013, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesslynh

3 - I tried one and it was fine - go to XDA, I just followed the rooting guide for 8.9 here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1406137

Thanks - are you still using Jelly Bean?

Jesslynh · January 16th, 2013, 11:11 AM

I have reverted to stock to help test stuff at work, and my newest daily use tablet is a rooted Kindle Fire 8.9, but I haven't put a ROM on it (I still want the Amazon VOD) so its still ICS

jamesb6789 · January 16th, 2013, 03:20 PM

For rooting the Tab, did you use the old version of Odin in the kit, or a newer version?

Jesslynh · January 16th, 2013, 03:22 PM

I used the older version.

CafeKampuchia · January 17th, 2013, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesb6789

Hi
1) Would you buy a used 8.9 with 16gb 3G or a 16gb Nexus 7 (non-3G) today if they were the same price?
2) How fast is ICS on this tab and does it run Skype video etc OK?
3) Is there a stable Jelly Bean version and is it easy for a newbie to install?
Thanks in advance!

1) If I didn't need 3G or want the bigger screen, I'd definitely go with the Nexus because of its superior software. And I know both devices well because I have the 8.9 and my wife the N7.

2) ICS is pretty good on the 8.9 but falls well short of vanilla JB on the N7. Skype is fine even on the old Honeycomb ROM.

3) Installing custom ROMs is easy on the 8.9. Make absolutely certain that you do a nandroid backup before you do. As far as options and stability, read the two threads below:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2060530

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1777398

jamesb6789 · January 20th, 2013, 09:14 AM

Thanks for the advice! Are there any mods to allow SIM phone calls with the 8.9?

rsisley · January 21st, 2013, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesb6789

Thanks for the advice! Are there any mods to allow SIM phone calls with the 8.9?

I don't believe there are.

jamesb6789 · January 21st, 2013, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesslynh

3 - I tried one and it was fine - go to XDA, I just followed the rooting guide for 8.9 here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1406137

Thanks - to my amazement it worked!

Now have ICS - might try JB when I get my breath back.. any recommendations about which version to try? And is the Tab 8.9 version much faster with JB than with ICS?