I have problems with my Aldi LifeTab tablet.

[jhmac77]

This is my very first Android tablet . Never had a cell phone. Don't understand Android compared to Windows which I have had many years and consider myself somewhat an expert especially when it comes to fixing software problems, partitioning drives, using backup and using the drives folders and files quite extensively. I have an Asus desktop with 3 active HD's and a Win Laptop. I have never had to take my Windows computers to the shop. I have bought electronics from Aldi before. I find their Medion Windows Laptop to be rather good quality, but not perfect. Aldi products have a good reputation as a rule, and their Euopean Medion seem to have a good reputation in Europe.Now I have read your off brand(cheaper) products article. My Google Play usually works with most apps. But after just a few weeks problems have been arising. For example bringing up any web page under Google is very slow most of the time except to bring up for GP downloads is much faster. Sometimes I wonder when my tablet will turn on. Most of my apps work pretty good and fairly quick unless the tablet has a stubborn streak and I wonder if it is going to work. I am always comparing it to Windows 7 on my Medion Laptop which is almost 6 years old and my web pages are usually much faster than my tablet. My tablet is Chinese. It has a dual-core 1.4 GHz processor, 8 GB memory saying memory can be expanded to 64GB with microSD. I find no change with adding a 16GB Sandisk microSD to the tablet. It seems to be slowing down and especially when battery is below 50%.After a few weeks I was thinking about returning the tablet but changed my mind. Do you have any insights into my problems? I am wondering if even the best$200+ androids products have been worth buying.Jim

 

[Rukbat]

1) That 8GB is storage - like hard drive.

2) You cab out in an SD card but, like Windows, some things must be done on internal storage (C: drive). Just as you can't move the registry to a larger drive, you can't install an entire app to the external card.

3) You don't say how much RAM it has. It should have at least 1GB. If less, that could account for the slowdown.

4) Install an app like Cache Cleaner+. Apps store temp data in their cache, and that eats up storage. That slows the thing down.

 

[Thom]

You could start by manually clearing the cache and see if there is a difference.

If you are running Android 4.1 or higher you could run in Safe Mode (disabling all apps you added without uninstalling them) and if there is an improvement the problem is caused by an app that you added.

... Thom

 

[jhmac77]

THANKS it has 1GB RAM, running faster after reducing caches.
I would like to use the microSD but don't know how to transfer anything to it and dont know what to transfer.
Can you show me? I know some apps download everything to the 8 gb and can be used without wifi.
Jim

 

[Android Wafer]

The specs of your tablet are reasonable. However, having used similar devices, I have found that surfing the web can be one of the activities they handle least well. This is particularly true for image-heavy sites that don't have a mobile-specific version.

In addition to Rukbat and Thom's suggestions, try some lightweight browsers too, e.g. Baidu Browser, ONE Browser and Lightning Browser. These can all be downloaded from Googe Play.

With regards to moving data over to the microSD card, this can be done with an app like ES File Explorer File Manager.

If its apps you want to transfer to your external storage, then go to Settings -> Apps. Select the app you wish to move and see whether it offers you the option to move it to your microSD card (not all apps will).

It is also true that not all devices support moving apps to the microSD card. Yes, this is even the case for those that have an expansion slot. The argument the manufacturers usually use is the microSD facility is there to allow you to store video, and other large media files.

 

[binaryhermit]

The argument the manufacturers usually use is the microSD facility is there to allow you to store video, and other large media files.

The real reason is that ICS, for whatever reason, removed the ability to move apps to SD cards. Some manufacturers (at least Samsung) added it back.
The official justification for the move is probably something along the lines of what you said, though.

 

[jhmac77]

I added 3 .doc files to an empty microsd card which was
Made on a Win 7 laptop with MSWord. The tablet's File Manager show the names of the 3 files but could not pull them up with Kingsoft document writer I went to Kingsoft and found the titles but could not read them . So what is the problem? These are .doc files read by Word and Kingsoft.
Jim

 

[PaulS]

This is most likely an MS problem.Document formats are a minefield IMHO.For example I ran a dual boot system on this laptop and .doc files in the WinXP would not open on the same laptop in Win7
Same with Docx files not opening in WinXP pro.

As I have to register CVs with sites I now stick with Win7 rtf/doc/docx or even pdf format(Plenty of doc/rtf converters around including Google docs converter online).

 

[Garryinwales]

Medion lifetab tablet incompatible to many apps including itv player, demand5,met office, wetherspoons etc saying no carrier as a reason. Is there a way around this or is it just the result of owning a cheap wi fi only tablet

 

[jhmac77]

QUOTE FROM binaryhermit: "The real reason is that ICS, for whatever reason, removed the ability to move apps to SD cards. Some manufacturers (at least Samsung) added it back.
The official justification for the move is probably something along the lines of what you said, though."

What is ICS?

thanks for answer!

 

[Kaat72]

What is ICS?

An older Android version: Ice Cream Sandwich.

 

[nickdalzell]

All versions of Android are named after desserts. Ice Cream Sandwich was Android 4.0

Google Play Store has had that annoying compatibility filter ever since it rebranded the Android Market (a move I find as unnecessary to this day). There are ways of installing apps deemed not compatible (which often work fine anyway) and that is by enabling unknown sources (settings, security, check unknown sources) and downloading another app store, such as Amazon or 1 Mobile. I to this day fail to grasp the blind loyalty to Play Store with better alternatives available.

 

[mikedt]

Medion lifetab tablet incompatible to many apps including itv player, demand5,met office, wetherspoons etc saying no carrier as a reason. Is there a way around this or is it just the result of owning a cheap wi fi only tablet

The fact it's got no SIM and carrier shouldn't be a problem. My father uses most of those on a WiFi only Samsung Tab. The Medion is a cheap thing from Lidl or Aldi isn't it? Sometimes things like this can be a bit funky, and Play is determining it as not compatible. Don't know what to suggest really other than returning it and getting something more mainstream, like a Nexus or a Samsung.

BTW Wetherspoon has an app? Are you referring to the Cloud Connect one that can automatically connect to the Cloud WiFi, which are normally found in Wetherspoon pubs, railway stations etc.

 

[Garryinwales]

Thanks problem now solved loaded this OI File Manager and loaded as apk files